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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Plumtree Correspondent
A MANGWE man who stripped naked in front of his 16-year-old daughter and fondled her breasts said he committed the offence in order to spite his wife.

The man from Mphoengs area, whose name has been withheld to protect the identity of the juvenile, told the court that his wife was denying him conjugal rights and he resorted to fondling his daughter.

He was convicted on his own plea of guilty to indecent assault by Plumtree magistrate, Mr Joshua Mawere.

The magistrate jailed him for an effective six months.

“I fondled my daughter because my wife has been denying me conjugal rights. I knew that she would report what I did to her and in turn she will be compelled to return to the bedroom.

“I did this in a bid to get her to correct the mistakes she was doing,” said the man.

He was sentenced to nine months imprisonment and three months were suspended on condition that he does not commit an offence of the same nature within the next five years.

Mr Mawere lashed out at the man for committing a despicable offence.

“You committed a serious offence which deserves a custodial sentence. If I pardon you I will be sending a wrong message to the community. This offence leaves your moral values questionable because you displayed an incestuous behaviour.

“This incident is likely to affect your child psychologically. You are her father and you are expected to protect her but you were her predator. You didn’t only fondle her but you exposed your naked body,” said Mr Mawere.

He told the man that a custodial sentence would rehabilitate him and serve as a lesson to like-minded people.

Prosecuting, Mrs Rose Sibanda said the man went into his daughter’s bedroom hut naked on March 27 at around 3AM while she was sleeping. He crept into her blankets and started fondling her breasts.

Mrs Sibanda said the juvenile started screaming and her father turned on the light in her bedroom hut. She said the girl saw her father naked and she fled from her bedroom hut.

The matter was reported to the police resulting in his arrest.

—@DubeMatutu.