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Michael Magoronga Midlands Correspondent
A Kwekwe nurse, who was shy to divulge that she had been impregnated by a Zambian truck driver and instead reported that she had been raped by her uncle, has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for laying false rape charges.

Kudzai Mushota of Amaveni suburb appeared before Kwekwe magistrate Mr Livard Philemon facing one count of making a false report.

She pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Mushota will serve nine months after Mr Philemon suspended three months on condition of good behaviour.

She told the court that she was shy to divulge that she had been impregnated by a truck driver and chose to make a false rape charge against her uncle.

“My boyfriend is a Zambian truck driver and I don’t know his whereabouts,” she said.

“So, I decided to accuse my uncle of rape so that I could get sympathy and assistance towards the pregnancy and subsequent birth of the baby.”

The uncle has been on the run since September, when the charges were laid against him.

It was the State’s case that sometime in September, Mushota, who is employed as a nurse at a private surgery in the mining town, approached Kwekwe Central Police Station where she reported that she had been raped by her uncle.

The matter was referred back to Amaveni Police Station for further investigations where it was discovered that she was 11 weeks pregnant after a medical report.