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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
A 25-YEAR-OLD gold panner from Dete in Hwange has been sentenced to a year in jail after having sex with a 15-year-old girl he had ‘married.’

The man who cannot be named to protect the girl’s identity does gold panning in Zvishavane in the Midlands province.

Both live under Chief Nekatambe’s area in Matabeleland north province.

The accused pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse with a young person when he appeared before Hwange magistrate Ms Rangarirai Gakanje yesterday.

The magistrate slapped him with 15 months in prison before suspending three months on condition that he does not commit a similar offence within the next five years.

He will serve an effective 12 months.

Prosecuting, Ms Jamesina Makanza said the girl was in Grade Seven at a local school when she got married to the accused in December last year.

The accused proposed love to her in December 2018 when she was aged 14 and was in Grade Six.

She accepted.

“On the 30th of November 2019 the complainant lied to her grandmother that she was going to fetch water from a nearby well. She left the bucket at the well and proceeded to the accused’s place of residence. On arrival at the accused person’s homestead she was welcomed by the accused’s aunt and the accused later joined them. They discussed how the accused was going to pay the complainant’s bride price,” said the prosecutor.

The court was told that the girl spent the night at the accused’s place of residence on November 30 and they had sex with her consent.

She continued staying at the accused’s person’s home and they had consensual sex on several occasions before he left going back to his place of work.

The girl remained at his home without her parents’ knowledge.

Some villagers tipped police leading to the accused’s arrest. -@ncubeleon