The Sunday News
A 53-year-old Lupane man has been slapped with an effective 12-year-jail term after he was found guilty of mercilessly forcing himself on a six-year-old girl whose silence he tried to buy with a rand after committing the crime.
Bruce Moyo of Esigodini Village, pleaded not guilty but was convicted due to overwhelming evidence when he appeared before Hwange magistrate Mrs Dambudzo Malunga for contravening Section 65 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23, rape.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with three years suspended on condition of good behaviour.
The State case as presented by the prosecutor, Mr Tawanda Sigauke, was that on 14 October last year, the complainant was coming from school with her colleagues.
She met Moyo at a borehole and he invited her to his homestead which was about 2km from the school where he gave her food.
The court heard that after feeding the girl, Moyo invited her to his bedroom hut where he ordered her to lie on a bed before raping her.
To buy her silence Moyo promised to give her one rand so that she could buy what she wanted at school.
He also ordered her not disclose the incident to anyone.
The court was told that the girl’s teacher discovered that there was something amiss when the girl started behaving in a strange manner.
The teacher informed the headmaster who interrogated the girl and she revealed that Moyo had raped her.
A report was made to the police in Lupane leading to Moyo’s arrest.
The girl was referred to hospital for medical examination.
