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Elizabeth Tsuro Midlands Reporter
A 54-YEAR-OLD man from Gokwe has been sentenced to 34 years in jail for raping his two nieces aged eight and six years on four different occasions. The man whose name has been withheld to protect the identity of the two minors lived in Chinegato village under Chief Sayi in Gokwe. He pleaded not guilty before Gokwe-Kwekwe Regional Magistrate Amos Mbobo to four counts of rape but was convicted due to overwhelming evidence against him.

In passing sentence, Mbobo said the man took advantage of children who looked up to him as their relative for protection.

“For count one you’ve been sentenced to 17 years and for the second count another 17 years in prison of which four years is suspended on condition of good behaviour. Effectively you’ll serve 30 years,” he said.

Prosecuting, Robert Ndlala, told the court that sometime in February last year, the two girls were herding cattle when their uncle approached them. He asked them to accompany him to a nearby bush.

“When they got to the bush, the accused forced his eight-year-old niece to lie on the ground and raped her while his other six-year-old niece looked on,” said Ndlala.

The prosecutor said after that the man raped the six-year-old girl in the presence of her elder sister.

The court heard that the following month, he raped them again.

The matter came to light when the eight-year-old told her grandmother that she had seen her uncle licking the six-year-old girl’s privates.

The matter was reported to the police leading to his arrest.