A 31-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the rape of a 14-year-old girl in Beitbridge.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, on 10 March 2025, the victim, a 14-year-old girl who does not attend school, was at the Mabidi cattle sales market grounds when the accused approached her.
He offered her a job as a domestic worker for his mother and insisted on taking her to his mother’s village that same day, despite her refusal.
They arrived at the accused’s homestead at around 9 PM. There, the offender took the girl to his bedroom and forced her to lie in his blankets, where he raped her twice.
The following morning, the victim awoke to find the offender had left the room. She went to his mother’s homestead and began performing chores.
Later, the offender instructed his mother to tell anyone who asked that the girl was her domestic worker. That night, the victim slept at the offender’s mother’s home.
The offender sneaked into the room where she was sleeping, woke her, and demanded she go with him to his homestead. When she refused, he lifted and carried her there, where he raped her again.
The case came to light when the victim’s grandmother found her at the offender’s mother’s house. After hearing the victim’s account, she reported the matter, leading to the arrest of the accused.
The court sentenced the man to 20 years imprisonment for the first two counts of rape (treated as one for sentencing) and a further 20 years for the third count. The sentences will run concurrently, with an effective custodial sentence of 20 years.
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