A 16-year-old boy from Jotsholo was convicted and sentenced by the Hwange Magistrates’ Court on two counts of rape, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has said.
On April 02, 2024, at around 5 PM, the accused crossed paths with two unsuspecting women, aged twenty-four and twenty-one. They were not alone; the twenty-four-year-old complainant’s nine-year-old daughter accompanied them.
The accused brandished a knife—an instrument of terror that would forever haunt the victims’ nightmares. His eyes bore into theirs as he ordered them to stop. They attempted to flee, but he pursued them relentlessly, like a predator closing in on its prey.
He ordered the complainant’s 9-year-old daughter to run, and she fled, her small legs carrying her away from the unfolding horror.
Meanwhile, the second complainant, her mother, was forced to lie down on the ground and ordered her to undress. Her dignity was stripped away, and she became a victim of unspeakable violence—rape.
The second complainant suffered the same fate—a brutal violation of body and spirit. The accused showed no mercy, no remorse.
The following day, the victims, their bodies bruised and their hearts shattered, found the strength to report the heinous acts to the police, leading to the accused person’s arrest.
The 16-year-old appeared at Hwange Magistrates’ Court where he was sentenced to fifteen years of imprisonment for each offence. The sentences would run concurrently.