A MAN from the Jambezi area in Hwange has been slapped with an effective 16 years’ imprisonment after he raped a 12-year-old girl and infected her with HIV before indecently assaulting another nine-year-old child.
BY SILAS NKALA
The 25-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the children, who are his nieces, pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and aggravated indecent assault when he appeared before Hwange regional magistrate Collet Ncube on Tuesday.
After a full trial, Ncube convicted and sentenced the paedophile to 18 years in jail on the rape charge.
Three years were suspended for a period of four years on condition of good behaviour.
He was also found guilty of one count of aggravated indecent assault and sentenced to 12 months. This means he will spend 16 years in jail.
Prosecutor Bheki Tshabalala told the court that sometime in January last year, the convict approached the 12-year-old girl, who was sweeping in the yard, and lifted her into her mother’s bedroom where he raped her once before trying to buy her silence with $1, but she refused.
After raping the first victim, he went out and saw the nine-year-old girl sweeping.
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He also took her and raped her.
Following the rape, the girl started suffering from different ailments, among them rash.
On August 17, 2016, the girl was taken by her mother to the clinic where she tested HIV-positive and that is when she told her mother about the rape.
A report made to the police, leading to the convict’s arrest.
