Elliot Jinjika
CHIVHU – A 32-year-old man from Dziva village under Chief Nyoka in Furtherstone was recently slapped with 15 years jail time for raping a 15-year-old speech-impaired girl.
Magistrate Fadzai Mtombeni found Knowledge Dziva guilty of rape after the State presented evidence that on April 14, 2017, the suspect visited the complainant’s homestead and shared traditional beer with the grandfather’s girl who is blind and deaf due to old age.
Dziva took advantage of the old man who was quickly getting drunk and dragged the girl to the main house where he raped her on a sofa.
However, a villager who had seen Dziva dragging the girl to the main house, alerted other villagers who then gathered around the house, forcing Dziva to come out of the house where he was apprehended.
After apprehending the rapist, the villagers however set him free but only for him to be arrested on May 13 by a Constable Mafaindi who had received a tip-off.
Reasons as to why the villagers did not take appropriate action after apprehending Dziva were not clear but State witnesses revealed that he was caught red handed raping the girl.
Nicholas Mabvongodze appeared for the State.local
