By Leonard Ncube
An 18-year-old Form Two pupil in Binga who had an incestuous relationship with his 13-year-old cousin has appeared in court after the girl fell pregnant. Their parents are brothers in Chabumbuluka Village under Chief Saba, Binga and share the same surname.
The schoolboy reportedly told the girl that it was only their fathers who were related when he proposed to her in April last year.
They had sex on several occasions in the bush until the girl discovered she was pregnant in September, the court was told.
The girl was doing Grade Seven at a local school and has since dropped out after giving birth last month.
The schoolboy, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the girl, was charged with having sexual intercourse within a prohibited degree of relationship when he appeared before Hwange magistrate Ms Ailene Munamati.
He pleaded not guilty claiming that he didn’t know that the girl was his relative.
The court invited the schoolboy’s father and uncle (names withheld) who testified that the two knew they were cousins and even used to stay together at their paternal grandfather’s homestead before his death.
The accused was lucky to escape with a non-custodial sentence after the magistrate convicted and sentenced him to 12 months in jail which was wholly suspended for five years after considering that he is in school.
Asked what he planned to do with the baby, the pupil told the court that he would pay the damages to the girl’s father. The magistrate questioned him how he would pay damages to his own paternal uncle.
Testifying in court, the complainant said: “I told him that he is my brother and he said he didn’t care as he loved me. He said only our fathers are related and not us.”
The prosecutor Mr Bruce Maphosa said:
“The accused proposed love to the girl on April 18. The two had unprotected sex on several occasions in the bush. In September 2017 the girl discovered that she was pregnant and fled from home.”
A report was made to the police leading to the accused’s arrest. The Chronicle
