×
NewsDay

AMH is an independent media house free from political ties or outside influence. We have four newspapers: The Zimbabwe Independent, a business weekly published every Friday, The Standard, a weekly published every Sunday, and Southern and NewsDay, our daily newspapers. Each has an online edition.

60 years for raping niece

News
A 51-YEAR-OLD Bindura man was last week slapped with an effective 50-year jail term for raping his 16-year-old niece on five occasions

A 51-YEAR-OLD Bindura man was last week slapped with an effective 50-year jail term for raping his 16-year-old niece on five occasions.

HAZVINEI MWANAKA OWN CORRESPONDENT

Joseph Kanyuchi, a District Development Fund (DDF) employee, was initially sentenced to 60 years by Bindura regional magistrate William Bhila. However, 10 years were set aside on condition of good behaviour.

The court heard that on the first count, sometime in February last year, Kanyuchi summoned the complainant into his bedroom and demanded to have sex with her or else he would throw her out of his Glendale home. When the complainant spurned his sexual advances, Kanyuchi muffled her mouth and raped her.

He again repeated the same act on an unknown date, but in the same month.

He later gave the complainant $1 to repair her skirt which had been torn during the act.

The court heard that Kanyuchi kept raping the girl each time his wife was away and at one time, bought the complainant two mobile phones in an attempt to buy her silence.

But in February this year, the girl felt she had had enough and spilled the beans to Kanyuchi’s wife, leading to his arrest.

In his defence, Kanyuchi told the court that the allegations were trumped up, saying there was never a time the complainant and himself were left home alone.

But the court dismissed his defence, saying the complainant had provided irrefutable evidence.