A 25-YEAR-OLD Johane Masowe eChishanu Bulawayo branch
leader has been sentenced to an effective 12 years in jail for raping his
fellow church mate.
The man, whose name has been withheld to protect the
identity of the minor victim, had unprotected sexual intercourse with his
17-year-old church mate without her consent.
He pleaded not guilty to a rape charge when he appeared
before Bulawayo magistrate, Mr Mafios Moyo. However, the magistrate convicted
and sentenced him to an effective 12 years in jail.
“I find you guilty as charged. I sentence you to 15 years
in prison of which three years have been suspended for five years on condition
that you do not within that period commit any offence of a sexual nature of
which upon conviction you will be sentenced to imprisonment without the option
of paying a fine. Thus, you have been sentenced to an effective 12 years in jail,”
Mr Moyo said.
Prosecuting, Mr Simbarashe Manyiwa said in June last year,
the accused person phoned the complainant’s mother informing her that her
daughter was supposed to come to his house and wash his garments.
“The complainant proceeded to the accused person’s place of
residence in Tshabalala where she found the accused person seated alone in the
kitchen. He then instructed the minor to collect his garments in the bedroom as
she prepared to do the laundry,” Mr Manyiwa said.
He said the accused person followed the minor into the
bedroom and threw her onto a bed and raped her.
The court heard that after committing the crime, the
accused person ordered the minor to take a bath as there were blood stains left
on the bed.
Mr Manyiwa said after bathing, the minor went back home and
told a neighbour that she had been raped by the accused person. She went for a
pregnancy test in the company of their neighbour and found out that she was not
pregnant.
Mr Manyiwa said the neighbour then told the girl’s mother
what the minor had said about the rape and the subsequent pregnancy test.
He said the neighbour told the victim’s mother that her
child had not opened up to her as she thought no one would believe her as the
accused person in the matter was a church leader.The court heard that the
complainant and her mother reported the matter at Tshabalala Police Station.
Chronicle
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