GWANDA: Rapist to spend 15 years behind bars

A convicted rapist from Maphisa in Matabeleland South province will serve an effective 15 years behind bars for raping his cousin, aged 13.

The 21-year-old rapist who cannot be named to protect the identity of the sexually abused minor, was initially slapped with an 18-year jail sentence before Gwanda regional magistrate Sibonginkosi Mkandla suspended three years on condition that he will not commit the same offence in the next five years.

The now incarcerated rapist, who was convicted because of overwhelming evidence incriminating him, is said to have committed the crime in 2017.

“On a date unknown to the prosecutor in 2017 the complainant was at home with the accused person when he approached her and told her that he wanted to have sexual intercourse with her. The complainant refused and threatened to report the accused person to her maternal grandmother who is also the accused person’s mother,” said Khumbulani Nyoni, who prosecuted.

By the time she was raped in 2017, the complainant was aged 10.

“The accused person dragged the complainant into his bedroom and locked the door from the inside. The complainant tried to scream but he covered her mouth with his hand and raped her. He warned the complainant against revealing the matter to anyone. The complainant reported the matter to her grandmother who promised to inform the complainant’s mother but didn’t,” Nyoni told the court.

In 2018, Nyoni said, the complainant moved and went to stay with her father and step mother.
All hell broke loose after the teenage rape victim started to have her menstrual cycle- an issue which resulted in the complainant’s father raising questions.

The complainant allegedly narrated to her step mother the ordeal she went through during the time she was raped and subsequently, a reports was made to the police, resulting in his arrest.

The accused, in turn, denies the charges being levelled against him.

state media
Additional Reporting: Zwnews