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Thupeyo Muleya, [email protected]

A 53-YEAR-OLD Beitbridge man has appeared in court for taking advantage of his wife’s absence from home to rape their nine-year-old daughter.
The man from Tshinwanyani Village who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim appeared before Beitbridge Regional Magistrate Mr Innocent Bepura on a rape charge.
He was remanded in custody to September 13 for trial.
The prosecutor, Ms Tsitsi Mutukwa told the court that the complaint was left under the custody of the accused in Todi Village while her mother was away.
The court heard that sometime in June the girl was intercepted by her grandmother while on her way to school who took her to her homestead, where they started staying together.
However, after school, the grandmother would accompany her to the accused’s place to sleep, where the man was sharing the same bedroom and blankets with her.
During one night in June, the man woke up and raped the complainant once.
Later that month a relative living in the same area realised that the accused and accused were sharing the same blankets at night and informed her mother.
On August 19, the complainant’s mother took her away from the accused and grandmother and interviewed her about the sleeping arrangements and she disclosed the sexual abuse incident.
The matter was then reported to the police resulting in the man’s arrest.
The latest incident comes barely six months after another 53-year-old Beitbridge-based cross-border transporter was jailed for 42 years for raping and impregnating his daughter.