By Nyore Madzianike
A HWEDZA man has been sentenced to 13 years in jail for raping his brother’s 16- year-old daughter.
Taurai Gorwa (40) of Zviyambe Village was initially sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for the offence when he appeared before Rusape magistrate Mr Livingstone Chipadza.
Mr Chipadza set aside two years of his jail term on condition that he does not commit a similar offence in the near future.
Gorwa had denied the rape charge claiming a love relationship existed between him and the victim. He wanted the case treated as incest instead of rape.
“The accused and complainant were in love. Rumours in the village are that a cock was slaughtered and its blood was sprinkled on complainant’s clothing so as to come up with a strong case against the accused.
The sexual intercourse was consensual. Accused never disappeared from home as he had just gone for his usual errands. While accused admits it was unlawful for him to have sex with his brother’s daughter, he denies having raped her.
The rape charge must be substituted with incest,” said Gorwa.
Prosecutor Mr Tirivanhu Mutyasira told the court that on September 7 this year at around midday, the teenage girl retired to her bedroom.
Gorwa spotted the girl as she entered her bedroom and followed and raped her. Gorwa vanished from their homestead after committing the offence. The teenager reported the abuse to a relative leading to Gorwa’s arrest. The Herald
