Shumirai Zhou
GWERU – A 42-year-old man from Lalapanzi was recently sentenced to 12 years in prison for raping, impregnating and infecting his neighbour’s 14-year-old daughter with a sexually transmitted infection.
Christopher Mamvura had pleaded not guilty to the rape charges but Gweru magistrate Morgan Nemadire found the evidence presented against him adequate to merit a conviction.
Appearing for the State, Fred Kadodo told the court that the accused saw the complainant on her way to school and followed her.
He then grabbed her by her waist, dragged her into a bush were he forced her to lie down facing upwards and raped her. He then gave her some sugarcane to buy her silence.
The complainant went on to report the case to the accused’s wife Faith Mugwise who then questioned her husband but he denied the allegations.
The accused and his wife escorted the complainant home where she was examined by her mother who noticed some discharge on her private parts and a police report was made leading to the accused’s arrest.
In passing sentence, Nemadire said Mamvura deserved a lengthy period in prison because instead of behaving as a father figure, he had abused a vulnerable girl.local
