Man jailed 8yrs for raping friend’s sister

By Tendai Rupapa

A 44-year-old Harare man who raped his friend’s 40-year-old mentally-challenged sister, was on Monday sentenced to an effective eight years in jail. Fungai Chimonyo pleaded not guilty to rape, but was convicted after a full trial before Harare regional magistrate Mr Elijah Makomo.

Mr Makomo sentenced him to 10 years in prison before setting aside two years on condition of good behaviour.

In passing sentence, Mr Makomo said, “The society must be protected from people like you, hence, you deserve to be locked away. You committed a serious offence, therefore, a deterrent sentence needs to be passed, so that a clear message is send out there that crime does not pay.”

Prosecutor Mrs Mollyn Mavhondo proved that on December 27 last year, the complainant was alone at home when Chimonyo went to the house looking for his friend.

He spoke to the victim at the gate.

She told him that her brother and aunt had gone out and she was alone.

Chimonyo then asked her to open the gate and she complied, while inside the yard, he closed the gate and asked the victim to kiss him, but she refused.

He then pushed her to the ground before raping her.

The victim’s neighbour who had observed Chimonyo’s movements, became suspicious when he saw him entering the yard.

He peeped over the precast wall and saw Chimonyo raping the woman and confronted him.

Chimonyo quickly dashed out of the gate and disappeared.

Meanwhile, another suspected serial rapist Trymore Machipisa (35) from Hatcliffe Consortium was yesterday back in court facing fresh charges of raping his neighbour’s 10-year-old girl.

Machipisa has other pending rape and indecent assault charges before the same court, after he allegedly raped and indecently assaulted other girls in the neighbourhood.

It is the State’s case that sometime in November last year, Machipisa saw the victim returning home after school.

He called her to his barbershop and the minor refused.

It is alleged that Machipisa followed the victim and grabbed her from behind before gagging her.

He allegedly dragged her into the barbershop and raped her.

The girl is said to have screamed for help, but no one heard her due to the loud music Machipisa was playing.

After the act, Machipisa ordered the girl not to tell anyone about the abuse adding that if she did so, a baboon would take her away.

The offence came to light after Machipisa was arrested for raping another girl, and women in the area started questioning their daughters if they had not been sexually abused too.

The victim then opened up to her mother about the rape. The Herald