The ManicaPost
Lovemore Kadzura : Rusape Correspondent
A GRADE Five Honde Valley pupil was last week convicted of raping a six-year-old girl from the same area.He was sentenced to receive moderate corporal punishment for the offence.
In addition to the three strokes of rattan can which will be administered at Rusape Prison in private, the 14-year-old boy was also sentenced to a wholly suspended two-year jail term by Rusape regional magistrate, Mr Livingstone Chipadza.
The teenager, who was accompanied by her mother in the dock and was not represented, pleaded guilty to the offence.
Mr Chipadza severely warned the teenager against committing such serious offence as rape, saying he was tarnishing his image by having a criminal record at a tender age.
Rusape District prosecutor, Mr Tirivanhu Mutyasira told the court that the young girl went to the boy’s homestead to play. The boy took advantage that he was alone at the homestead and dragged her into the bush before raping her.
“On October 15, 2015, around 4pm, the complainant went to the accused’s homestead to play. She found the accused person alone. The accused person dragged the complainant into the bush which is behind their houses and raped her.
“Afterwards, the young girl went back home and did not tell anyone about the incident. The matter came to light on October 17, 2015 when the girl’s mother was bathing her. She noticed some bruises near the girl’s privates. She asked the complainant what had happened and that is when the she disclosed that the accused person had raped her.
“The girl’s mother reported the matter to the police. The girl was medically examined leading to the accused person’s arrest,” said Mr Mutyasira.
In an unrelated incident, another 14-year-old teenager was this week arraigned before a Mutare court for allegedly attempting to rape his four-year-old neighbour.
The teenager appeared before Mutare magistrate, Mr Poterai Gwezhira and was remanded out of custody to today (Friday).
The teenager was being charged with attempted rape as defined in Section 65, as read with Section 189 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, Chapter 9:23.
Mr Fletcher Karombe prosecuted.
It is alleged that the teenager, who is doing Form One, was found trying to rape the four-year-old girl who is still in nursery school by an eight-year-old girl who also resides at the same house.
“Both minors stay with their families at the same house, but in different rooms. The eight-year-old girl rushed to tell the mother of the four-year-old girl who found the teenager getting dressed up.
“She made a police report and the four-year-old was referred to Mutare Provincial Hospital for medical examinations,” said Mr Karombe.
The medical report showed that there was no visible evidence of penetration.
