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Cynthia Dube, Court Reporter
A 17-YEAR-OLD boy from Nkayi has been sentenced to three years in jail for raping three minor siblings aged five, eight and nine years on several occasions within a week.

The boy from Mdlawuzweni area, who cannot be named for legal reasons appeared before Bulawayo Magistrate Mr Crispen Mberewere on Friday.

He pleaded guilty.

The magistrate sentenced him to three suspended years on condition that he does not commit a similar crime.

Mr Mberewere said four strokes must be administered on the boy for the crimes.

“I understand that you are a juvenile and you have been in remand prison for two months. I hope Khami Prison has showed you the other side of life and you have learnt something from it,” he said.

“You are young and you should avoid engaging in sexual relationships. You must know the difference between a wife and a minor child. I advise you to change your bad behaviour and try by all means to be a good boy and this will help you to have a better future.”

Prosecuting, Mr Simbarashe Manyiwa said:

“On August 3, at around mid-day, the complainant in the company of her two sisters proceeded to the accused person’s place of residence where they intended to play with their two friends who are both seven-years-old. While they were playing, he called the three minor children into a bedroom hut and ordered them to remove their panties and lie down on the floor facing upwards,” he said.

The prosecutor said the boy raped the three sisters and told them not to reveal his crime to anyone.

The court heard that the boy repeatedly raped the children for a week each time they visited their friends.

“The accused person stopped sexually abusing the complainant on August 10 when the complainants’ grandmother stopped them from playing at other people’s homesteads,” said Mr Manyiwa.

The prosecutor said the matter came to light on August 22 when the victims revealed to their grandmother that the accused person had been sexually abusing them.

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