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Adelaide Moyo Chronicle Reporter
A MAN from Binga who raped his 17-year-old mentally challenged niece has been jailed for an effective 13 years. The 39-year-old man from Makondo Village under Chief Sinansengwe, who cannot be named to protect the victim, pleaded not guilty to rape but was convicted due to overwhelming evidence. Hwange magistrate Dambudzo Malunga said the shameless uncle betrayed the trust bestowed on him by the vulnerable girl, who is a Grade Seven pupil at a local school.

“You were supposed to protect the complainant but you took advantage of her condition thereby betraying the trust she had in you as a guardian,” said the magistrate.

Prosecuting, Tawanda Sigauke said the rape took place in February this year at a neighbour’s homestead.

The rapist and the victim lived at separate neighbouring homesteads.

“On February 1, at 8PM, the complainant went to play with other children at a neighbour’s homestead when the accused followed her. He asked her to follow him to his homestead so he could give her some money and maize cobs but the girl refused,” Sigauke said.

He said the man dragged his niece to a nearby bush behind the neighbour’s homestead. He threatened to assault her if she resisted, the court heard.

Fearing for her life, the girl complied and her uncle raped her once before he left the scene. The victim narrated her ordeal to her mother the following day and she reported the matter to the police leading to the uncle’s arrest.