A herdboy from Tsholotsho, Matebeleland North province, has been sentenced to an effective 12 years behind bars for raping and impregnating an 11-year-old girl who later suffered a miscarriage.
Sengezile Ndlovu (22) appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate Dambudzo Malunga charged with rape.
He pleaded not guilty but was convicted after a full trial and sentenced to 13 years in jail.
The magistrate suspended one year on condition that he does not commit a similar offence within a period of five years.
In his defence Ndlovu said he assumed the girl was above the age of consent and he was also in love with her.
The court heard that on an unknown date but sometime in October 2019, Ndlovu, who was employed as a herdboy by the victim’s parents, would sneak into her bedroom during the night and have sex with her.After that he would threaten to kill the minor girl if ever she revealed the ordeal to anyone.
The horrified minor kept the sexual attack to herself until she fell pregnant in December last year. After that she started to bleed, the court heard.
Her mother noticed that she was unwell and was bleeding and she took her to Tsholotsho District Hospital for treatment.
At the hospital it was discovered that she had been pregnant and had suffered a miscarriage.
When she was quizzed that is when she revealed that she was raped by Ndlovu.
The matter was reported to the police leading to Ndlovu’s arrest.
Constance Tatenda Mathaba prosecuted.
Source: bulawayo24
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