Stepfather bashes 12-year-old for refusing to become a prostitute

By Sharon Buwerimwe

A 56-YEAR-OLD MAN from Bulawayo has been sentenced to nine months in prison for bashing his stepdaughter (12) with a burning log and assaulting her with a sjambok for refusing to be a sex worker.Joseph Mangwende from Tshabalala suburb and his wife ordered the girl to sleep with a man for a fee of $100.

The couple, the court heard, told the girl she had to earn her keep and repay money that they had “wasted” on her school fees.

Mangwende went ballistic when the girl refused to have sex with the man identified in court only as Mpumelelo.

He grabbed a log from a fireplace and hit his stepdaughter on her arm and she sustained serious burns.

Mangwende pleaded guilty to assault before Western Commonage magistrate Ms Tancy Dube.

He was sentenced to an effective nine months in prison.

For the State, Mr Tapiwa Solani said Mangwende assaulted the minor in February this year.

“On a date unknown to the prosecutor but during the month of February, Mangwende burnt his stepdaughter with a burning log on her right arm and assaulted her with a sjambok several times,” he said.

Mr Solani said on 12 February the complainant approached a Childline Social worker Blessing Masola and told her about her ordeal. The matter was reported to the police leading to the arrest of Mangwende. The Chronicle