A 53-year-old man from the Tshinwanyani area in Beitbridge has been sentenced to 20 years in pr!son for rap!ng his 9-year-old daughter.
The man, whose name is kept secret to protect the victim, denied the charges but was found gu!lty based on evidence presented in court.
The court learned that the man lived with his daughter in Todi while her mother was away.
The girl’s grandmother, who lived nearby, took her in after finding her on her way to school. They started living together, but the grandmother would send the girl back to her father’s house to sleep after school.
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While there, the man shared the same bedroom and blankets with his daughter. One night in June, he rap3d her.
A relative noticed that the man and girl were sleeping in the same bed, like a couple, and told the girl’s mother. On August 19, the mother brought her daughter home and asked her about what happened.
The girl revealed the abus3, and the mother reported it to the police, leading to the man’s arr3st.
Prosecutor Miss Tsitsi Mutukwa told the court that the man took advantage of his wife’s absence to commit this terrible act. She highlighted how vulnerable the young girl was and how the man abus3d her trust.
The sentence given by Beitbridge Regional Magistrate Mr. Innocent Bepura serves as a strong warning against violence and abus3 within families.
