Father jailed 20years for raping biological daughter

Munyaradzi Mashiri- Court Correspondent

In a landmark judgment, the court has convicted and sentenced a medical student to two decades in jail for repeatedly raping his young daughter.

The accused, 42, appeared before magistrate Learnmore Mapiye at the Harare Magistrate's Courts facing rape charges.

The complainant is a 13-year-old girl who is the accused's biological daughter.

The accused is staying in Zambia and is studying medicine at the University of Lusaka.

The State through prosecutor Zvikomborero Mupasa proved that towards the end of 2020, the accused person secured a place to study medicine at the University of Lusaka.

He also found accommodation to rent at Silverest Compound, Lusaka, Zambia.

On December 17, 2020, the complainant and her mother followed the accused in Zambia and stayed with him for a while.

In January 2021, the complainant's mother decided to return to Zimbabwe in search of a job, leaving the complainant in the custody of the accused.

It is alleged that the accused who was renting two bedrooms sublet the other bedroom and started using one bedroom.

He shared the same room with the complainant and would sleep on the same bed with her.

On an unknown date, but during the night in 2021, the accused raped the complainant.

From that day, the accused continued to have sexual intercourse with the complainant several times during the night.

The abuse came to an end on December 29, 2021, when the complainant's mother went to Zambia.

The complainant was taken back to Zimbabwe by her mother on January 1 2022.