A herdsman from Inyathi who allegedly sodomised his employer’s children, a boy aged five and an eight-year-old girl over a period of one year, has been arrested.
The man (24) (name withheld to protect the minors) of Siganda area in Inyathi allegedly had anal sex with the children multiple times between January and December 2016.
He allegedly damaged the children’s sphincter muscles and they can no longer hold in stools when nature calls.
A court in Bulawayo yesterday heard that the juvenile’s parents were in South Africa, seeking employment, while the children were left in the custody of the herdsman and a maid who was his lover.
The man appeared before Regional Magistrate Mr Crispen Mberewere facing two counts of aggravated indecent assault.
He pleaded not guilty and was remanded in custody to today.
“I didn’t rape the children. I have been working for this family for some years and their parents did not pay me. They are now lying saying that I raped their children so that l can go to jail,” said the man.
Prosecuting, Mr Busani Moyo said the maid quit her job and left the children with the accused.
“The accused person left his bedroom and started sleeping in the juveniles’ bedroom. The accused person raped the children almost every day from January 2016 to December 2016. The matter came to light when the children’s father returned to Zimbabwe,” said Mr Moyo.
“On December 12, the complainants’ father sent the children to collect cattle from the bush. They took long and he followed them. He saw the accused person fleeing from the children and asked the children what was happening.”
Mr Moyo said the children told their father that the herdsman had been sodomising them in the bush.
They told him it was not the first time he had sexually assaulted them.
“The complainants told their father that the accused person threatened to assault them if they revealed the matter to anyone,” he said.
Mr Moyo said the father accompanied his children to a police station and reported the sexual abuse, leading to man’s arrest.
He said the children were referred to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) and a medical report will be produced as evidence. The Chronicle
