One of the directors at a Chinese-owned mine, Rongxin /Mambo Mine, in Sanyati has reportedly offered 10 kilogrammes of gold as “compensation” to quash the investigation into a marriage between a Chinese engineer at the mine and a local underage girl.
According to a NewsDay report, the 15-year-old girl dropped out of school after she was married off to the Chinese engineer by her parents on 26 November 2021.
The engineer allegedly paid US$2 000 as the customary bride price to the girl’s parents.
The girl was in Form 3 at Tomdrayer Secondary School at the time she was forcefully married off to the Chinese man.
The girl is from Ward 5 under Chief Neuso, Sanyati District, in Mashonaland West province.
NewsDay reported sources as saying that one of the directors at the mine has offered to pay at least 10kg of gold worth US$570 000 for the case to be set aside. Said a source:
The director of the mine is one of the owner’s daughters. She gives directives from China.
She has said they want the case suppressed by any means possible.
The main reason is that the forced marriage suspect is a key engineer at the mine and operates the underground mining department.
They do not want to lose him by any chance and are doing everything to ensure he is not jailed for marrying the minor.
In December, Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) national spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed that a Chinese mine engineer who works at Ringxin/Mambo Mine had been arrested for marrying a minor.
The engineer in question last week appeared before a Kadoma magistrate, where he was remanded out of custody.