A Zimunya man was slapped with an 18-year jail term after he was convicted of raping a juvenile who was staying at his place as a tenant.
Eliah Dzinamarira (49) had pleaded not guilty when he appeared before Mutare regional magistrate Mr Alex Shumba facing rape charges as defined in
Section 65 of the Criminal Law (Reform and Codification) Act.
Mr Shumba suspended two years of the sentence on condition of good behaviour, leaving him to serve an effective 16-year jail term.
Representing the State, Mr Mike Tembo said some time in January, the complainant went to Dzinamarira’s homestead in Dzobo Village looking for a room to rent so that she could attend school from there. Her parents’ place is a distance from Munyarari High School where she is currently doing Form Three.
“On January 21, the complainant went to Dzinamarira’s homestead looking for a room to rent. Dzinamarira offered her a room. The following day, the complainant asked Dzinamarira for a dollar to have her hair trimmed as had been directed by school authorities and he gave her the money,” said Mr Tembo.
Two days later, the juvenile asked for a blanket from Dzinamarira saying the one she had brought from home was not warm enough.
Said Mr Tembo: “On January 23, the complainant requested a blanket from the accused and he directed her to ask his wife. Later Dzinamarira realised that the complainant had not taken the requested blanket and used this as an excuse to carry out his plan. Around midnight when his wife was fast asleep, Dzinamarira took the blanket and a mosquito net and went into the complainant’s room. When he got there, he raped her once before giving her a dollar to buy her silence.”
The following day, Dzinamarira’s wife saw the complainant crying, but when she asked her why she was crying, the complainant refused to talk.
She, however, asked for a phone so that she would call her mother.
Dzinamarira gave her the phone and instead of calling her mother, she phoned her uncle whom she asked to come and get her.
When the uncle came, she told her about the rape, leading to Dzinamarira’s arrest.
Source: manicapost
