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Thandeka Moyo Court Reporter
A 21-year-old gardener has been jailed for an effective 12 years for raping and sodomising his neighbour’s four-year-old child. Zibusiso Moyo called the toddler to his bedroom where he molested and washed her private parts to conceal the crime.

Moyo pleaded not guilty to rape before regional magistrate Chrispen Mberewere but was convicted due to overwhelming evidence.

Magistrate Mberewere said: “Courts do not sympathise with such offenders. Your sentence must be a warning to like-minded men. You are sentenced to 15 years in prison, of which three years are suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.”

In his defence Moyo said, “I didn’t rape her and I’m sure she is mistaking me for someone else.”

The girl who testified in camera told the court that Moyo had used a “stick” to inflict pain on her.

Prosecuting Trust Muduma said on an unknown date in 2014, Moyo called the girl to his bedroom.

He went on to touch the girl’s private parts and later removed her panties to knee level forcing her to lie facing upwards.

Moyo removed his trousers and raped the girl once. He also had anal sex with her once and rushed to the bathroom and washed her to conceal evidence.

The girl went home and did not tell anyone about the incident. Sometime in June, the girl’s mother noticed that she was producing a smelly substance and took the girl to the clinic for treatment.

During an interview, the girl told the mother what had happened leading to Moyo’s arrest.