MDC official jailed 20 years for rape

By Fortunate Gora

MDC-Alliance district chairman for Kariba, Kainos Bhasera Mutatu, has been jailed 18 years for raping a 12-year-old girl on three occasions. Chinhoyi regional magistrate Amos Mbobo recently sentenced Bhasera Mutatu (60) to 20 years in jail but set aside two years on condition of good behaviour.

Bhasera Mutatu had pleaded not guilty to the charges but was convicted after a full trial on charges of contravening Section 65 (1) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act (Chapter 9:23).

In mitigation, the MDC-Alliance official pleaded with Mr Mbobo to give him a lighter sentence since he was a breadwinner for his family, which would suffer during his absence.

However, in passing sentence, Mr Mbobo said rape was considered to be a very serious offence since it involves brutal invasion of the victim’s privacy and dignity.

He said a stiffer punishment was necessary to warn other offenders in the society who might commit similar offences against minors.

Prosecutor Mr Trustmore Mukarati told the court that during the period extending from November 2017 to March 2018, Mutatu raped the minor on three occasions. The Herald.