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Peter Matika, [email protected]

A 26-YEAR-OLD man has been sentenced to an effective 20 years in prison for raping an unsuspecting job seeker, whom he deceived into believing that his grandmother needed a house helper in Cowdray park suburb.
The accused who was not named in a statement by the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) was convicted for three counts of rape.
It was stated that sometime in March this year the 17 year old victim sent a message looking for a job on a WhatsApp group.
“On the 1st of May 2024 she received a message from the accused person purporting that his grandmother in Cowdray Park, Bulawayo was in need of a house helper. The complainant proceeded to Bulawayo from Plumtree on the 5th of May 2024 where she met the accused person who was in the company of two friends,” read part of the statement.
It was mentioned that the accused person took the complainant to a beer garden before taking her to his place of residence in Mpopoma suburb.
“He promised to take her to Cowdray Park the following morning. When the complainant went to sleep the accused person got into the room where she was sleeping and joined her in the blankets. He forcibly removed her clothes before raping her twice the same night and once in the morning.”
The matter came to light when the complainant made a police report leading to the arrest of the accused person.