Woman jailed 12 years for indecent assault

intimate with her neighbour’s 14-year-old son.
Maud Diya (32) of Masomera Village in Svosve had pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated indecent assault but Marondera regional magistrate Ms Gladys Pise convicted her after the State proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Ms Pise sentenced Diya to 18 years in jail but set aside six years on condition of good behaviour.
The court heard that Diya, who is married to an octogenarian in the same village, forcibly became intimate with the Grade Seven schoolboy when the boy’s mother was away.
Under Zimbabwean law, a woman is not capable of committing rape, but can be charged with indecent assault.
Prosecutor Mr Charles Tsangadzaoma proved that Diya initially went to the boy’s house on two occasions and fondled his private parts.
She then approached him on the third occasion when her mother had gone to Harare for medical treatment and fondled him before being intimate with him.
The court heard that the boy first received instructions on how to bed a woman.
The three incidents, according to Mr Tsangadzaoma, occurred in April this year at the boy’s homestead in Masomera between 8am and 9am.
On all the occasions, the court heard, Diya would ask the boy whether his mother was present before sexually abusing him.
The offence came to light when the boy narrated the case to his cousin who stayed in a nearby village.
It was proved that the relative rushed the boy to the police where a police report was made.
Investigations led to Diya’s arrest.
The boy was taken for a medical examination at Marondera Provincial Hospital and a medical report consistent with sexual abuse was compiled.
In her defence, Diya denied the charges saying it was the boy that coerced her into becoming intimate.
Cases of child abuse are on the increase.