A 47-YEAR-OLD Harare man yesterday appeared before magistrate Adonia Masawi charged with raping his two biological daughters aged 13 and 15 years. According to the evidence presented in court, the elder girl is doing Form 3 while her younger sister is in Grade 7. By NQOBILE NKIWANE
The court heard that on December 23 last year the man sneaked into his daughters’ bedroom and dragged the youngest girl to the dining room where he raped her once and persuaded her not to report the abuse to anyone.
The girl later allegedly fell sick and was taken to a local clinic where it was discovered that she had been sexually abused and had contracted a sexually-transmitted illness.
On a separate occasion, but during the same month, the man is alleged to have invited his eldest daughter to her bedroom where he raped her and threatened to send her to his rural home and stop paying her school fees if she disclosed the abuse.
The court heard that the matter only came to light when she was caught by her mother having sex with a boyfriend and upon being quizzed she then revealed that her father had deflowered her.
The teenage girls were then referred for counselling sessions where they revealed that their father had abused them, leading to his arrest. The trial continues on Monday.
