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Walter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
A 38-YEAR-OLD Chiredzi man who took advantage of his wife’s absence to rape his step daughter has been sentenced to an effective 15 years in jail. The man (name withheld)  from Mkwasine  was found guilty of raping the 11-year-old girl by Masvingo senior regional magistrate Judith Zuyu. Zuyu sentenced him to 18 years in prison and suspended three years for five years on condition of good behaviour.

In mitigation, the man said he did not commit the offence and claimed his wife had framed him to protest against his failure to buy clothes for his step children.
Delivering judgment, Zuyu said the man acted irresponsibly by betraying the trust vested in him by his wife.

“The accused acted irresponsibly by betraying the trust that both the wife and girl had in him.
“The complainant looked up to the accused as her father but instead of providing her with protection he decided to be intimate with her on different occasions.
“The accused is so cunning to the extent that he used a number of antics to rape the minor and at one point sent her away to stay with an aunt, apparently to conceal the crime,” said Zuyu.

“The accused should be punished through a deterrent sentence that will send a stern warning to would be offenders.”
For the state, Moreblessing Rusere said the man raped the girl on two different occasions and ordered her not to tell anyone.

The court heard that in an attempt to conceal the matter, the man forced his wife to send his step daughter to live temporarily with an aunt.
Upon her return she told her mother what had happened.
The mother made a report to the police leading to the man’s arrest.