Zimpapers Logo

Lovemore Meya Court Correspondent
A Chitungwiza man who allegedly raped his nine-year-old niece and bought her Zapnax to silence her has appeared in court on rape charges. The offence came to light when the victim wrote a letter to her mother advising her of the abuse after police officers conducted an awareness campaign on sexual abuse at her school.

The accused is the maternal uncle to the girl. The man was not asked to plead to the charges when he appeared before Chitungwiza resident magistrate Mr Francis Mapfumo and was remanded in custody to October 2.

The prosecutor Mr Tatenda Mukatera told the court that on an unknown date in 2015, the minor was alone at home and decided to sleep in the kitchen since she was not feeling well. The accused allegedly came into the kitchen and instructed the girl to close the door and she complied.

After that he allegedly sexually abused the girl threatening to beat her if she disclosed the offence to anyone. He then bought her zap knacks on two different occasions to buy her silence. However, in March 2016, police officers visited the minor’s school to carry out an awareness campaign on sexual abuse.

This made the minor realise that she had been sexually abused. The girl wrote a letter describing the abuse by her uncle during her mother’s absence. Her mother reported the matter to the police leading to his arrest.