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Man jailed 2 years for torturing 5-year-old stepson

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A 38-year-old man from Plumtree has been slapped with an effective two-year jail term for torturing his stepson (5) on several occasions.

A 38-year-old man from Plumtree has been slapped with an effective two-year jail term for torturing his stepson (5) on several occasions.

BY SILAS NKALA

The abuse was discovered after the boy fled and sought refuge at his uncle’s house.

Tau Moyo was denying the charge of domestic violence and raping another female child, when he appeared for Bulawayo regional court magistrate Joseph Mabeza. Mabeza convicted and sentenced him to three years in jail for domestic violence.

He suspended one year for five years on condition of good behaviour. On the rape case, the magistrate found him not guilty and acquitted him on grounds that there was no evidence linking him to the offence.

It was the State’s case that sometime between July and October last year, Moyo was left in the custody of the boy and his siblings while their mother, his wife, went away at night to an unknown destination. The man was responsible for bathing and cooking for the children and he shared the same blankets and bed with one of them. The man resorted to assaulting the boy with a switch all over the body and he sustained injuries as a result.

On October 17, 2016, during another assault, the boy managed to escape to his uncle’s house. The uncle, on noticing the injuries, took the boy to the police where a report was made leading to the step father’s arrest.

In the rape case it is alleged that Moyo raped a one-year-old child when their mother was away during the same period his wife was away.

The alleged rape came out when the three children were taken to Plumtree Hospital for medical check-ups where it was discovered that the one-year-old had been sexually-abused.