Unpaid work for sleeping with minor

Primrose Nyanzero Herald Reporter
A NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD Chitungwiza man was on Tuesday ordered to perform 410 hours of community service after he was convicted of sleeping with a 14-year-old girl he had taken as a wife, a month after proposing love to her. The man appeared before Chitungwiza magistrate Mrs Yeukai Chigodora and pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse with the minor.

Mrs Chigodora initially sentenced him to 10 months in prison, before suspending six months for five years for good behaviour and the remaining four months were also suspended on condition that he completes 410 hours of community service.

Prosecutor Mr Farayi Katonha told the court that on an unknown date in November this year, the man proposed love to the girl, who accepted and the two started dating. On December 7, the young girl went to her now boyfriend’s place of residence to collect her earphones and she returned home.

Upon arrival at her house, she discovered that all her clothes had been placed outside the house and this prompted her to go back to her boyfriend’s place to inform him about what had taken place.

The boyfriend advised her to go and collect her clothes and move in with him as his wife and she complied. During the same night at around 9pm, the two had consensual sexual intercourse.

The following morning, the young girl’s mother discovered that her daughter had spent the night at the accused man’s house. She went to collect her and escorted her to police station where she filed a report.