Katsande was
sentenced by Mutare Magistrate Anne Ndiraya who suspended five months of the
sentence and commuted the remaining seven months to 245 hours of community
service at Chipinge District Hospital.
Katsande was
being jointly charged with Benjamin Basikiti (35), a lawyer with Mutendi,
Mudisi and Shumba Legal Practitioners.
Basikiti was
acquitted.
The two were
arrested by the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) for allegedly
defeating the course of justice, under Section 184 of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act (Chapter 9:23).
Circumstances are that on December 28, 2024, the victim was allegedly raped by her uncle at her home. Her mother reported the matter to ZRP Chipinge Urban on the next day under CR 134/12/24.
The minor’s
uncle who was represented by Basikiti appeared at the local court and was
remanded in custody to January 10, 2025.
The case’s
investigating officer referred a complete rape docket to the National
Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for set down under CRB CHPR 125/24. The matter was
set to commence trial on the January 15.
The matter was
then allocated to Katsande for prosecution. The docket had the victim’s
statement, impact survivor statement and witness accounts which all clearly
stated that accused is the minor’s uncle and that he forced himself on the
minor.
Katsande and
Basikiti went on to produce a statement of agreed facts that stated that the
victim and her uncle were not related and they had consensual sex.
The uncle went
on to plead guilty to contravening Section 70 of the Criminal Law Codification
and Reform Act (Chapter 9:23) ‘having sexual intercourse with a minor’.
He was
sentenced to 36 months in jail and 12 months of the sentence were suspended.
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