‘Raped’ minor (14) weeps as convict boyfriend (20) gets jail sentence

A 20 year-old Beitbridge man charged with statutory rape was last Friday slapped with an effective 8-month jail sentence- a verdict which resulted in the sexually abused minor (14) weeping uncontrollably and begging for the magistrate to overturn the custodial sentence.

The 14-year old girl who comes from Lutumba area, in rural Beitbridge, is said to have been temporarily made a sit-in lover for four days by her boyfriend, Lovemore Mapanzure.

For the crime, Beitbridge resident magistrate, Toyindepi Zhou, convicted Mapanzure on his own plea of guilty and sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment before conditionally suspending four months of the sentence for five years.

This did not go down well with the teenage girl who was overpowered by emotions and wept uncontrollably while pleading with the magistrate not to jail Mapanzure.

Prosecuting, Tariro Makaya, said Mapanzure proposed love to the teenager in December last year and she accepted.

The minor is said to have visited Mapanzure at his uncle’s residence on 29 March this year, where they had sex once.

The lovebirds stayed together for four days during which they were intimate at least once per day.

On the fourth day, police in Beitbridge invaded Mapanzure’s homestead at the instigation of the female teenager’s mother who had reported the case.

state media