The Sunday News
Mollet Ndebele, Sunday News Reporter
A MAN from Manningdale suburb in Bulawayo has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for raping his two daughters for a period spanning six years.
The man (48) who cannot be named to protect the daughters now aged 15 and 17, was in the habit of sneaking into the children’s bedroom from 2013 until last year and sexually abused them during his wife’s absence.
It was heard that the abuse got worse in 2016 after the girls’ mother passed on. The man pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape when he appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Ms Sibongile Marondedze last week. However, Ms Marondedze convicted and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. She considered that the man was a first-time offender who is a widower and father of five children.
“The accused person is a biological father to the two complainants and he has a duty to protect them instead of violating them, instead he went on to rape them. The accused person is a danger to society and himself. The only suitable sentence for such offenders is imprisonment,” she said.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the first two counts and an additional 10 years for the third count.
“Ten years have been suspended for five years on condition that the accused person does not within that period commit a similar offence of which upon conviction he will be sentenced to prison without the option of a fine. The accused person will serve an effective 20 years in prison,” Ms Marondedze.
For the State, Ms Samantha Gubede said some time between 2013 and 2016 in Nketa suburb the man raped his daughter (15) several times. The court heard that the daughter narrated her ordeal to a church mate. The man again raped the daughter last year.
“Some time in September 2019 during the night, the complainant was sleeping on the floor in the kitchen when the accused person sneaked into her blankets, removed his shorts and had sexual intercourse with the girl without her consent,” said Ms Gubede.
The court heard that some time in 2014 in Nketa suburb, the girl (17) shared the same bed with her father. One night, the accused person pulled down her tracksuit and had unconsented sex with her once. She also narrated her ordeal to the same church mate to whom her sister had narrated hers to. The matter was reported to the police leading to the man’s arrest.
