A 39-year-old man from the Chief Mataruse area in Mberengwa, Midlands Province, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Zvishavane Magistrates’ Court for raping his 17-year-old daughter, a student at a local secondary school.
The court heard that the accused had returned to his parents’ homestead from South Africa sometime in December 2022 and was allocated the same hut where the complainant and her younger sister were sleeping.
In January 2023, the accused, who was intoxicated, came home and found his two daughters asleep. He then got into the blankets with the minors, started caressing the 17-year-old’s breast, and proceeded to remove her underwear.
When the girl informed her father that she was uncomfortable with his actions, he threatened her and proceeded to have sexual intercourse with her without her consent.
During the assault, the complainant’s sister woke up and witnessed the accused having sexual intercourse with the complainant.
The accused immediately stopped and ordered both girls not to reveal the incident to anyone. However, the younger sister informed their grandmother about the matter.
The grandmother questioned the complainant, who then revealed that her father had raped her, but the grandmother did not take any action.
The accused later built his own homestead and took his new wife and two daughters with him, where he continued to rape the 17-year-old on multiple occasions during the night.
On February 27, 2024, the police received a tip-off and launched an investigation, which revealed that the accused had been engaging in nonconsensual sexual intercourse with his daughter.
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