A 20-year-old man from Sadza, Chikomba District in Mashonaland East Province, was brought before the Chivhu Magistrates’ Court facing kidnapping and aggravated indecent assault charges.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the accused person kidnapped a 4-year-old boy for four days and kept him in the bush while having anal sexual intercourse with the child. Said the NPA:
The state proved that on the 16th day of May 2024 at Gwatidzo village the accused person met the complainant on his way back from school.
He lured him into a nearby bush by telling him that he had been sent by his mother to collect him after school. He kept the boy in the bush for several days before he was caught on the 20th of May 2024.
A few days after the boy went missing, the grandmother was informed that he had been seen in the area in the company of the accused person.
The villagers formed a search party leading to the accused person’s arrest. The child told his grandmother about the sexual abuse when the accused person was arrested.
The accused person was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment for the first count of kidnapping and on the second count he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. He will serve 24 years effective.
