BY SIMBARASHE SITHOLE
A 41-YEAR-OLD secondary school teacher from Guruve was last week convicted of indecently assaulting a Form 3 pupil in his office in a bid to rape her.
The teacher, whose name was withheld to protect the identity of the victim, was fined $400 by Guruve resident magistrate, Shingirai Mutiro, for indecently assaulting the 15-year-old pupil.
Prosecutor Spiwe Makarichi told the court that on June 6 last year, the convict assigned the pupil to sweep his office after school hours and subsequently followed her at around 4:30pm.
The teacher wrestled with her and told her that she was ripe for sex before fondling her.
He muffled her screams with his hand, but later released the teenager after his attempts failed.
The victim narrated her ordeal to her friend who heard the two wrestling in the office and was advised to tell the senior lady, who informed the headmaster before filing a police report, leading to the teacher’s arrest.
In mitigation, the convict said he was looking after his parents, in-laws and family, hence a custodial sentence would be too harsh.
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“Your Worship, may you be lenient with me, I am the breadwinner for my family, parents and my in-laws. May I be given a second chance to reform by a non-custodial sentence since a custodial sentence would throw me in the deep end of unemployment and many lives will suffer,” the teacher lamented.
Mutiro took into consideration his submissions and that he was a first offender.
The convict was given up to March 26 to pay the fine.
