Man rapes neighbour’s daughter while drunk wife sleeps on same bed

A 24-year old Beitbridge man will spend the next 20 years in prison as per the sentence handed down by the Magistrates’ Court in Beitbridge yesterday, after he was found guilty of raping his neighbour’s daughter.

On the 23rd of December 2023, the complainant’s mother left the complainant in the custody of the accused person’s wife, for a couple of days as she had to go to work out of town. The accused person got home around midnight on the same night and found the complainant, aged 5, sleeping on the same bed as his wife. He sneaked into the blankets and raped the complainant. She cried out in pain and tried to wake up the accused person’s wife. The accused person’s wife said “she heard the complainant crying but could not react as she was too drunk”. On the 25th of December, the accused person bought the complainant some mangoes in an attempt to buy her silence. He instructed her to shift the blame onto the other kids who she plays with, in case anyone asked her anything about the incident.

The morning after the incident the complainant showed the accused person’s wife her bruised privates saying, “ndasvuuka”. The accused person’s wife also noted some discharge while she was bathing the complainant but never asked the girl what had happened. When the complainant’s mother returned on the 28th of December 2023 she noticed that the complainant had bruises on her thighs and privates but also she did not inquire as to what had happened.

The matter only came to light when the girl narrated her ordeal to her aunt who encouraged the complainant’s mother to report the matter to the police. The accused person was eventually arrested.