Anesushe Mamhute
CHIREDZI – The Chiredzi Regional Court recently slapped a man with a 20-year jail sentence for raping his own daughter and infecting her with HIV.
The 43-year-old man (who cannot be name to protect the victim) comes from Tarusenga village, Chief Nyajena, Masvingo district.
Magistrate Judith Zuyu found him guilty of raping his daughter back in 2007 and gave him the lengthy prison sentence but conditionally suspended three years.
Prosecutor Moreblessing Rusere told the court that the accused started sexually abusing the complainant in 2007 but the case was only reported in July 2016.
The complainant testified that the first time she was raped, Mandivona had entered her room where she was doing her homework and molested her while closing her mouth.
The complainant also testified in court that on the second occasion, her father asked her to accompany him to fetch some firewood in the mountain.
When they got there, her father told her that he wanted to repeat what he had done previously and then raped her before threatening her with death.
The matter only came to light after the victim, who was now married, fell pregnant and tested HIV positive leading to problems with her husband who had tested negative.
She then told her husband that her father was accountable as she had never slept with anyone before marriage except his father who had sexually abused her.local
