Court Correspondent
A Chitungwiza man has been slapped with a 15-year jail term for raping "his girlfriend" who is a minor.
Farai Chezhira (28) was convicted after a full trial by Chitungwiza regional magistrate Mrs Gloria Takundwa.
Prosecutor Ms Pamela Dzinduwa proved to the court that sometime in September last year the complainant, who is aged 12, together with a former housemaid at their residence, went to Unit O shops in Chitungwiza to buy some groceries where they met Chezhira.
The court heard that Chezhira and the maid had a chat while the girl was walking in front of them on their way back home before he returned to his workplace.
On an unknown date but in September, the girl was sent by her grandmother to Unit O shops to buy some eggs and she went there alone.
While at the shops the girl met Chezhira who called her by name.
He approached the girl, grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to his workplace where he took her to a room behind the counter. He closed the door and raped the girl. When she cried Chezhira ordered her to stop or else he would kill her if she made any noise.
The girl later pushed Chezhira away who then stood by the wall laughing while looking at her. She expressed her displeasure and also suspected that Chezhira was acting in connivance with the maid.
She dressed up, opened the outside door, bought the eggs and went home where she disclosed the abuse to their housemaid. The housemaid ordered the girl not to disclose the abuse to anyone. The maid was later fired.
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The matter came to light in January this year when girl's grandmother, noticed some behavioural and physical body changes in her. She confronted her but the girl initially denied any abuse.
The girl was tested for pregnancy by her grandmother and tested positive prompting the grandmother to ask who was responsible for her pregnancy but the girl still did not disclose the man.
She was taken to Edith Oppermann Clinic in Mbare for medical examination where she disclosed the abuse to a nurse who medically examined her.
The girl's grandmother took her to the police to file a report leading to Chezhira's arrest.
In his defence, Chezhira told the court that the girl told her that she was aged 18 when he courted her and she agreed to have a love affair with him since March 2023. He admitted to being intimate with the girl on several occasions.
