HARARE - A 33-year-old Chitungwiza man has been jailed 11 years for raping a mentally-retarded woman.
Harare magistrate Aidonia Masawi sentenced Clemence Galau to a 15-year sentence of which four years were suspended on condition he does not commit a sexual offence within five years of his release.
The 19-year-old victim has brain damage and is a special class student at Harare Girls High School.
Galau, who was a friend to the woman’s father, was employed as a security guard at Guard Alert and also rented a barber shop shack at the latter’s residence.
Prosecutor Liberty Gono proved that sometime in August last year, Galau dragged the woman, who was alone at home, into his shack and forced himself on the woman without using protection.
He later gave her a dollar after the rape.
He promised that he would marry the woman and advised her not to tell anyone.
During the same month, Galau found the girl alone making tea at home.
He dragged the 19-year-old into the dining room and tried to rape the woman but she resisted.
Galau then cuffed her before raping her.
He also gave her a dollar and warned her not to divulge the ordeal.
Gono also proved that sometime in September last year, Galau dragged the woman into a cottage at the house while the father was drunk and asleep.
He also gave the complainant a dollar and cautioned her about revealing the abuse to anyone.
On September 28, the complainant’s parents went for a wedding and left her in the care of a sister-in-law.
The complainant was sent to buy vegetables at a nearby market and spent hours before returning.
When the mother questioned her, she revealed that Galau had delayed her.
She also narrated all the rape incidences, leading to Galau’s arrest.