The ManicaPost
Letwin Mubonesi
A ZIMUNYA man escaped an eight-month jail term and was ordered to perform 140 hours of unpaid work after he was found guilty of bedding a minor.Aleck Mundonde (24) of Manzununu Village under Chief Zimunya appeared before Mutare senior magistrate, Mrs Sekai Chiundura pleading guilty to sleeping with a young person as defined in Section 7 of The Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
Representing the State was Mr Fletcher Karombe.
The court heard that during the period extending from January to March 2016, Mundonde slept with Chipo Manyoka several times on different occasions.
In October last year, Mundonde proposed love to the minor and she agreed. He then slept with her consent on January 6, 2016 at Manzununu Village. On January 9, they started staying together as a married couple and slept together on several occasions.
The matter came to light after the complainants father lodged a police report that Mundonde was co-habiting with a minor leading to his arrest. The minor was then referred to Mutare Provincial Hospital where she was medically examined, said Mr Karombe.
When asked to explain why he had acted in the manner he did, Mundonde told the court that they had agreed and she had lied to him that she was no longer a minor.
She never told me she was still a minor and she is now my wife, said Mundonde.
Mrs Chiundura then sentenced him to eight months imprisonment which were wholly suspended on condition that does not commit a similar offence in the next five years. She, however, ordered him to do 140 hours of unpaid work.
