A 55-YEAR-OLD Gokwe man was yesterday jailed for 20 years for raping his neighbour’s 10-year-old granddaughter.
STEPHEN CHADENGA OWN CORRESPONDENT
The man — who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim — from Mukonda village under Chief Chireya, found the girl alone at home and dragged her to a nearby bush where he raped her once.
He threatened the girl with death if she reported the matter.
In passing sentence, Gokwe regional magistrate Amos Mbodo said he considered the violent nature under which the rape was committed.
Appearing for the State, Robert Ndlala told the court that on August 25 this year, the accused went to the complainant’s grandparents’ homestead where he found the girl on her own.
He enquired on the whereabouts of her grandparents and was told that they were attending a funeral at a nearby village.
The man then grabbed the girl and dragged her to the nearby bush, gagged her mouth with a cloth and then raped her.
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He threatened the complainant with death if she revealed the rape to anyone.
However, the matter came to light after the girl narrated her ordeal to her grandparents.
A report was made to the police, leading to the arrest of the accused person.
A medical report produced in court indicated that the girl had been sexually abused.
