HARARE - A 52-year-old Mbare man will spend the next 30 years in jail for raping his blind friend’s 12-year-old daughter.
Harare regional magistrate Simon Rogers Kachambwa sentenced Joseph Muzanenhamo to 40 years in jail before suspending 10 years on condition of good behaviour.
In mitigation, Muzanenhamo pleaded with the court to consider that he was living with HIV and might not survive jail because of his health condition.
“I am a widower with a 13-year-old child,” he said. “I am a sick person and my HIV has propagated to Aids. It would not be favourable for me to be sent to jail,” he said.
Prosecutor Michael Reza urged the courts to pass a stiff penalty because Muzanenhamo had “ruined the girl’s life and left an indelible scar”.
“Accused person was a family friend who was trusted by complainant’s father,” Reza said.
“He took advantage of his friend’s blindness and abused the daughter.”
“Complainant was a child turned into a woman before her age. The courts should not take such offenders lightly and a lengthy custodial sentence will justify the offence.”
HIV test results produced in court showed that the juvenile had tested negative.
Reza proved that sometime in September last year, Muzanenhamo visited the girl’s residence and gave her a hug on arrival.
The 12-year-old told him that she had stomach pains and he offered to give her ginger root at his house to relieve the pain.
Muzanenhamo dragged the girl to his bedroom, forcibly removed her clothes before raping her.
He threatened to kill her if she revealed the ordeal to anyone. Two days after the first incident, Muzanenhamo met the girl at a church around 8 pm and asked her to accompany him to his home to collect her father’s parcel.
The girl was dragged into Muzanenhamo’s bedroom and raped again.
After the incident, Muzanenhamo produced a six-gear Okapi knife and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
The girl later told her teacher about the abuse, leading to Muzanenhamo’s arrest.