Stepfather jailed 16 years for raping 14-year-old daughter

Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]

A 48-YEAR-OLD Gwanda man has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter.

The man, from Nhwali Village, cannot be named to protect the identity of the minor.
He was convicted of rape by Gwanda regional magistrate Ms Sithembiso Ndebele.

In passing sentence, Ms Ndebele said the accused had grossly betrayed his wife’s trust.
“What is aggravating is that the accused person was supposed to play a fatherly role of protecting the complainant.

“The complainant’s mother left her children under the custody of the accused person, which meant that she trusted him,” she said.

Ms Ndebele said the accused was a danger to society and as such he needed to be locked away for a long period.

“You are a danger to society and therefore you need to be rehabilitated so that you can have a change of mindset,” she said.

Prosecuting, Ms Zanele Sithole told the court that the offence occurred in December last year while the complainant’s mother was away.

“Sometime in December, the complainant and her younger siblings were left under the care of the accused while their mother attended a funeral in Bulawayo,” she said.

The court heard that the accused summoned the complainant into his bedroom under the pretext that he wanted to send her on an errand.

“The complainant went to the bedroom where the accused ordered her to lie on the bed and remove her clothes. She refused, but the accused grabbed her and raped her,” said Ms Sithole.

After committing the offence, the accused threatened to assault the minor if she disclosed the matter to anyone.

The complainant left the bedroom in tears and was later noticed by a friend, who asked her what had happened. Out of fear, she initially refused to disclose the ordeal.

“The complainant initially refused to disclose the incident, saying she feared that the accused person would beat her if she revealed what had happened,” she said.

The complainant’s friend later informed her mother, who accompanied her back to the homestead.
After being questioned, the complainant eventually revealed the assault.

The matter was subsequently reported to the police leading to the arrest of the accused. The complainant was also referred to hospital for medical examination.