The Sunday News
Charity Chikara, Sunday News Reporter
A 39-year-old Gumtree gold panner was slapped with a 13-year prison sentence for raping his neighbour’s 11-year-old daughter.
The man, Givemore Masedza is said to have called the minor to his room after spotting her leaving the tuck shop and raped her there once.
Masedza appeared recently before Bulawayo regional magistrate, Mr Mark Dzira with the State represented by Ms Concilia Ncube.
Three years of the the13-year sentence were, however, suspended on condition of good behaviour. “The accused person and complainant are neighbours. On a date unknown to the prosecutor but in the month of January 2022 in the afternoon, the complainant was at the tuck shop buying bread, and the accused person called her to get into his room.
“He told the complainant that he wanted to have sexual intercourse with her, and she refused. He then pushed her to the bed and removed her navy skirt and panties and also removed his trousers and then forcibly had sexual intercourse with the complainant once without her consent,” said Ms Ncube.
She said after the act, the girl told her mother about the incident when she returned from work, and the mother promised to take her to the hospital and get the man arrested, but she never did.
The matter only came to light when an anonymous person tipped off the police, leading to the arrest of Masedza.
“The police got a tip-off from an anonymous person, interviewed and took her for medical examination which revealed that she was sexually abused. That led to the man’s arrest. He was referred to the hospital for medical examination and the medical affidavit can be produced as evidence,” said the prosecutor.
