AN HIV positive Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) lance corporal Arnold Tendai Duri has been jailed for 20 years for a savage sexual attack on a two-year-old toddler after breaking into her mother’s house in Darwendale, Mashonaland West Province.
Report by Charles Laiton
At the time of the “ritual” sexual offence, Duri was stationed at 2 Mechanised Battalion in Darwendale.
There is a myth among some people that ritual sex with a toddler or virgin cures one of Aids.
The incident that shocked Darwendale residents occurred on December 22, 2011 at plot 20 Burningside where the toddler’s mother had left the child alone, locked up in her room as she partied at a local hotel.
Duri confessed his HIV positive status.
Chinhoyi regional magistrate Never Katiyo heard that on the day in question at around 9pm, the toddler’s mother left her baby sleeping and locked the door before going out for a beer drink at Darwendale Inn.
Duri spotted the toddler’s mother at the hotel and seized the opportunity to attack the child. He broke the door’s lock and once inside removed the toddler’s nappy and raped her before dumping her into a nearby bush.
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“He put the child at a place where there were some bricks around the child and that was an indication that he performed some rituals as a result of him being HIV positive,” Katiyo said in his ruling.
Upon her return, the toddler’s mother discovered the door open, her baby missing and when she searched for her, she heard the baby crying in the bush. She found the child soiled and bleeding profusely. She reported the matter to the police leading to Duri’s arrest on the same night before he could change his bloody and soiled clothes.
Katiyo suspended a year of the 20-year jail term, but slapped Duri with another 10-month jail sentence for unlawful entry. It will run concurrently with the rape sentence.
“To imagine that the accused as a member of the ZNA could come up with such an evil thought to ravish a girl of that age is just unbelievable and unthinkable,” Katiyo said.
“This is a very bad case. It really shocks society and should only be seen in jungles of Amazon forests where there is no civilisation.” Lucky Dube prosecuted.
