Father of 9-year old Tsholotsho mother still in cu...

Father of 9-year old Tsholotsho mother still in custody, to appear in court this week

Zim Now Writer

Althought tests have proved that a 13-year old cousin is the baby daddy, the father of the 9-year old Tsholotsho mother is still in custody and will appear in court this week.

The father was picked up by police to assist with investigations in August after the pregnancy was discovered.

The statement in which the police announced the DNA tests results left the issue of the father hanging as it only stated paternity results and did not touch on the rape allegations.

The statement went on to imply that there were still some outstanding issues that were not specified:

“The police is now working with other relevant arms of government to ensure that due processes of the law are followed,” said the police in the statement.

The family has confirmed that the father is still in custody but apparently expect his release soon.

“The father of the nine-year-old is not there so when he is released, he will speak to both his children,” a relative told a local publication.

A woman who fostered the girl after social services took her away from her family following the discovery of the pregnancy said that the girl had told her that she was raped by a spritual entity.

The foster mother said the girl told her that during the night, the father would close the bedroom window telling the minor that the spiritual entity that had just raped her had escaped that way.

The foster mother also said that the girl told her that the rape had stopped when she moved out of her parent’s bedroom to share a room with her cousins who had come to live with them.

DNA tests have since proved that she was impregnated by a cousin.

The girl’s paternal grandmother has dismissed the spiritual entity story saying the family only learnt of it through media reports.

“My son was accused of evil things and I wonder where people got it from. I am surprised that there is a goblin that is being talked about, where is all that coming from? We are worried that such reports are being made.

“Do you know that I could not go to the well to fetch water in the village because of the stigma? I never attended school meetings because of the accusations against my son, all eyes were on us in this village. I am happy the truth is finally out that he did not rape his child,” said the grandmother.

The grandmother also said the family did not realise the girl was pregnant for so long because the possibility was just not something that crossed their minds as no one expects a 9-year old to fall pregnant.

“When we were told of the bulging stomach, we assumed she was just sick, nothing more, we encouraged the mother to take her to hospital to seek help. We were not very shocked initially when the stomach bulged because we had never imagined that a child could get pregnant.

“So, we actually assumed other things like witchcraft, fibroids and not pregnancy. We even prayed so much and she got prayers from other people trying to assist the ‘sick’ child. We all never imagined that she could be pregnant hence it was discovered too late at seven months and there was nothing we could do about it,” she said.

The family had previously utilised convectional and traditional medicine services when the girl had her first periods at 7 years of age. Experts say this is a case of precocious adolescence which is very rare.