Corpun file 26300 at www.corpun.com
New Zimbabwe, 1 February 2016
Masvingo teenager to get four strokes for raping 5-year-old girl
By Masvingo Correspondent
MASVINGO: A 15-year-old boy has been ordered to get 4 strokes at a local police station for raping a girl aged 5 he found playing at his family's house.
The boy (name withheld) was represented by Rongedzai Fambasayi from the Legal Resources Foundation when he appeared before Masvingo magistrate, Collet Ncube.
In passing judgment, magistrate Ncube said the accused deserved corporal punishment since he is young and has a right to education.
The court added that sending him to prison with hardcore criminals would further ruin his future.
Prosecutor Sophia Bhusvumani told the court that on 6 November last year, in the afternoon, the 5-year-old who is attending early childhood development classes at a local school went to play at the boy's place of residence.
Court heard that when the boy returned from school he saw the minor playing alone in the kitchen.
While the boy's mother was seated outside, the teen grabbed the complainant's hand and dragged her to the spare bedroom where he laid her on to the bed.
Court was told that the boy forcibly removed the minor's underpants and raped her once.
After the abuse the minor started bleeding from her privates as she went to her place of residence.
When she got home she removed her underpants in front of her sister while telling her that she wanted to be cleaned.
The sister noticed the minor's faded pink pant was stained with blood and some blood was also flowing down her thighs.
She asked the complainant what had happened to her and the child revealed that their neighbor had sexually abused her.
The matter was then reported to the police, leading to the arrest of the boy while the minor was taken to Masvingo Provincial Hospital.
Corpun file 26308 at www.corpun.com
The Chronicle, Bulawayo, 8 February 2016, p.3
Dentist saves rapist from prison
By Leonard Ncube
Victoria Falls Reporter
A RAPIST from Binga who could not give his correct age in court has a dentist to thank for a lighter sentence after the specialist determined that he could be a minor.
Artwell Munsaka had claimed that he was 16 years old when he was arrested for allegedly raping a neighbour's six-year-old daughter but prosecutors doubted his given age as he looked much older to them.
Munsaka did not have a birth certificate or any identification particulars.
Hwange regional magistrate Dambudzo Malunga referred Munsaka to a dentist to determine his age and the specialist said he was between 17 and 19 years old.
Munsaka of Mupande Village under Chief Sinampande was then sentenced to a wholly suspended two-year jail term.
He will also receive three strokes with a rattan cane to be administered by a Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services officer.
The magistrate said the court used its discretion to sentence Munsaka as a juvenile because a specialist had placed his age on the boundary of being an adult and a minor.
"The accused had said he is aged 16 and the dentist said he is between 17 and 19 years old. The court exercised its discretion and treated you as a juvenile," said Malunga. Munsaka had pleaded guilty to rape. The court was told how he pounced on the girl, who was playing a game of hide and seek with her friends in the evening on September 21 last year.
The girl was doing Grade Zero at Sinampande Primary School at the time.
"The complainant was playing hide and seek with her friends at about 7PM near a neighbour's homestead. When she went to hide, the accused followed her whereupon he lifted her up and laid her behind a bush facing upwards. He then raped her once," said the prosecutor Tawanda Sigauke.
The complainant reported the rape to her grandmother who then accompanied her to the police the following morning leading to Munsaka's arrest.
