Harare, (New Ziana) – A 39-year-old man from Chief Mataruse area in Mberengwa, Midlands has been sentenced to an effective 15 years in prison for raping his 17-year-old daughter for more than a year.

In a post on X, the National Prosecution Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) said the man was convicted and sentenced by the Zvishavane Magistrates Court. The man, who had returned from South Africa in December 2022 to his parents’ homestead where his two daughters stayed with their grandmother, shared a hut with the two girls.

One night in January last year he came home drunk and found the complainant and her younger sister asleep. He slipped into the girls’ blankets and started caressing the complainant’s breasts and went on to remove her pant. The complainant protested against his behavior and he threatened her.

He then raped her. The girl’s sister witnessed the assault and informed their grandmother who then asked the complainant about the matter and she confirmed that her father had raped her. The grandmother promised to deal with the matter but failed to take action.

The accused built his own homestead and took his new wife, the complainant and her younger sister with him. He continued to rape his daughter multiple times at night at his new homestead.

Police received a tip-off sometime in February and investigations confirmed that the man was consistently raping his daughter leading to his arrest. The Zvishavane Magistrate court sentenced him to 15 years in prison, bringing some justice to the victim.

New Ziana