20 years for minor niece rape

A 33-YEAR-OLD man from Nyamandlovu who repeatedly raped his juvenile niece until she ran away from home was sentenced to 20 years in jail.

On a number of occasions, the man raped the 11-year-old after summoning her to his bedroom hut. He threatened to assault her if she revealed the matter to anyone. A court heard that in October last year, the minor ran away from home and was picked by Good Samaritans who took her to Nyamandlovu Police Station.

At the police station, she told police officers about her ordeal. The man pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape before Bulawayo magistrate Mrs Sibongile Msipa- Marondedze. The magistrate, however, convicted him due to overwhelming evidence against him and he was sentenced to 20 years in jail.

He will serve an effective 15 years after five were suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar crime in the next five years.

The minor said she was afraid to tell her grandmother about the rape because she feared being assaulted by her uncle.

“He called me to his bedroom hut, laid me on his bed and raped me. On a different day, he summoned me to his hut and asked if I remembered what we had done before. He ordered me to remove my panties and raped me again,” she said.

The minor said her uncle raped her for the third time in October after telling her that there was no way she could have forgotten what they had done twice. “On October 16, last year, I ran away from home in search of my mother and was rescued by people who took me to the police,” she said.

Miss Concilia Ncube said the man raped his niece between September and October last year. — @ MondelaC .