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Trish Mukwazo, [email protected]

THE 58-year-old grandfather from Nkayi who repeatedly raped his two minor grand-daughters aged nine on several occasions has been sentenced to an effective 60 years in jail.

He raped his two granddaughters between the period of January and March this year and was facing nine counts of rape.

The two children are nieces as their mothers are sisters born from the same father – the perpetrator of the crime.

The accused will serve 60 years imprisonment effectively after Bulawayo Regional magistrate, Ms Sibonginkosi Mnkandla, served him with 15 years per three counts.

In passing the sentence on Monday she took into consideration the negative impact the sexual abuse had on the victims.

“The offender introduced sexual intercourse to the minors in which for their age is traumatic. He took advantage of them despite being their grandfather,” she said.

Ms Mnkandla said the offender violated the victims at the fields and at their rural home, in the kitchen and bedroom. She quoted a high court judge who said the advanced age of an offender should never be considered as it is irrelevant compared to the suffering of the victims.

“The offender was cruel to the victims as he took turns in violating them while the other was watching,” she said.

The magistrate stressed out that one of the victims’ health has deteriorated, in that she is now suffering from severe back pain and she constantly has to consult doctors.

“One of the victims has become withdrawn from other children her age,” she said.

The magistrate accepted that it could have been their fantasies but noted that their detailed and clear explanation of what transpired during court proceedings showed that the rape actually happened. She said they both described how the offender plucked out branches in the fields, laid them down and instructed the victims to lay on top of them and raped them.

She noted that one of the victims was seen limping because of what the offender had done to her.

“They also testified that the offender told the 11 year old victim that she’s sweet and he’ll marry her. The victims also described that the offender had white substance on his private part, which is semen,” Ms Mnkandla said.

A medical report was produced in court and showed that the victims had indeed been violated. The prosecutor, Ms Nomthandazo Mafu said the victim’s mother examined her daughter and realised that she had a pink patch on her buttocks and was no longer a virgin,” said Ms Mafu.

She said the first rape incident occurred sometime in January this year when the grandfather ordered the two victims to accompany him to the grazing lands to round up the family herd of cattle and upon arrival he ordered them to strip and they complied.

“He took turns mounting on top of the victims and raped them without protection,” the court heard.

“The grandfather proceeded to command the two victims to caress his private part so as to feel it and the duo complied with the orders.”

The court heard that the accused threatened to harm the victims if they were to report the matter to anyone. However, the matter came to light on 25 July when the first victim’s mother received a call from her sister, the mother of the second victim, informing her that the grandfather has been raping the two minors.