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Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
A 53-year-old Beitbridge man has been arrested for raping his nine-year-old daughter in the Tshinwanyani area.The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, appeared before Beitbridge Regional Magistrate Mr Innocent Bepura on Monday facing rape charges.

He was remanded in custody to September 13 for trial.Prosecuting, Miss Tsitsi Mutukwa said the accused was supposed to look after his daughter while his wife was away.

The court heard that the victim’s grandmother would accompany her to her father’s house to sleep.

The man was sharing the same blankets with his daughter.

One night in June, the man woke up and raped the complainant once.

Later that month, a relative living in the same area realised that the accused and his daughter were sharing the same blankets at night and informed her mother.

On August 19, the complainant’s mother took her away from the accused and interviewed her about the sleeping arrangements.

She disclosed that she had been raped.
The matter was then reported to the police, resulting in the man’s arrest.
In another case a few months ago, a 53-year-old Beitbridge based cross-border transporter was jailed for 42 years for raping his daughter for three years until she got pregnant.

The man started raping the teenager in August 2020 when she was 13.