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Walter Mswazie and Michelle Gwizi
A MASVINGO man (39) was sentenced to 90 years in prison for turning his daughter (13) into a sex slave while a man from Bulawayo was yesterday jailed for 15 years after raping, impregnating his daughter (15) and forcing her to abort.

The man from Masvingo who cannot be named to protect the juvenile was convicted on his own plea of guilty to six counts of rape by Chiredzi senior regional magistrate, Mrs Judith Zuyu early this week.

Mrs Zuyu sentenced him to 90 years for the offence before suspending 15 years for five years on condition of good behaviour.

In passing sentence, she said the man had demonstrated weird and wicked behaviour by raping his own daughter on several occasions, without remorse.

“You are a wicked man who has bad morals. You betrayed the trust invested in you by your biological daughter.

“ You turned your daughter into a sex slave. You deserve sterner sentences that will make you reform if you survive the vagaries of jail life,” said Mrs Zuyu.

Prosecutor Mr Edmore Mbavarira said between February and August this year, the man would take advantage of his wife’s absence to rape his daughter.

He would sexually abuse her every time he assisted her with homework.

“The man would assist his daughter doing Grade Seven at a local school in Zaka. Every time after assisting her, he would force her into intimacy and threaten her with unspecified action if she dared report the abuse to anyone,” said Mr Mbavarira.

He said on one occasion he sneaked into the complainant’s blankets where was she was sleeping with her two siblings aged four and six years, fondled her breasts and raped her once.

On another occasion the girl entered her father’s room to collect her books and without warning he grabbed the girl by the right hand, forced her onto his bed and raped her once.

Mr Mbavarira said in June, the mother again left home for a funeral wake leaving the complainant and her siblings in the custody of her husband. During the night, the man helped the girl with her homework after which he forced her into intimacy. He raped her twice.

All hell broke loose when the girl revealed the abuse to her teacher who reported the matter to the school headmaster leading to the man’s arrest.

The Bulawayo man (53) who resides in New Magwegwe pleaded guilty to rape before Bulawayo regional magistrate Mr Joseph Mabeza, who sentenced him to an effective 15 years in prison.

Prosecuting, Ms Caroline Matanga said: “Sometime in November 2016 accused went home drunk and ordered complainant to sleep on his bed.”

“Accused dragged his daughter to his bed after she refused to share the bed with him. He undressed and raped her without protection. He ordered her not to tell anyone,” said Ms Matanga.

The court heard the accused sexually abused his daughter for six months before she fell pregnant.

“Accused hired a Dr Hove to terminate the pregnancy. Dr Hove further injected a birth control injection into the complainant,” she said.

The complainant told the court that her father took her to Dr Hove and told him that his daughter had been impregnated by her boyfriend.

“My father told Hove that l was impregnated by an unknown boyfriend and instructed him to assist me in aborting the baby. After l stopped bleeding l was injected with Depo,” said the complainant.

The prosecutor said “Accused continued to sexually abuse his daughter till March 27 this year when complainant travelled to her rural home for holiday.”

The court heard matter came to be known when complainant informed her uncle after she had refused to return home after the holiday.

He reported the matter to the police, leading to accused’s arrest and complainant was taken to Mpilo Central Hospital for medical examination.—@walterbmswazie2/@gwizi_n.