MWENEZI – A 16-year old boy who is doing form three at Hlezane Secondary School impregnated a 14-year-old minor who was doing grade seven at a nearby primary school after several sexual escapades.
The boy, who cannot be named due to his age, was last week arraigned before the Mwenezi Magistrate Court facing charges of Contravening Section 70 (1) (a) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23 ‘Having sexual intercourse with a young person’.
The minor, who was being represented by a lawyer from the Justice for Children (JCT), pleaded guilty to the offence. After taking into consideration the submissions of the defence lawyer, taking in account that both the complainant and the accused were minors, magistrate Honest Musiiwa suspended the imposition of sentence on the boy on condition that for the next five years, he will not commit an offence of that nature.
Arguing for the State, prosecutor Willard Chasi told the court that sometime in March this year, the boy proposed love to the girl who then accepted. From that period onwards, the two juveniles began to engage in a series of consensual sexual encounters in the bush.
The matter came to light after the girl discovered that she was pregnant and she eloped to the boy’s homestead. A police report was made leading to the boy’s arrest.
The expectant minor who was doing grade seven at Chitanga Primary School has since dropped from school as she is expecting a baby.crime
