Sydney Mubaiwa

MIDLANDS BUREAU CHIEF 

SHURUGWI-Gweru Regional Magistrate Christopher Maturure has sentenced a Shurugwi man to 18 years in jail for raping his niece (11).

Behind Zirume (37) was convicted after a full trial. He raped his niece (name withheld) in a bush on December 20, 2022, in Maumi Village under Chief Ndanga.

He will effectively serve 15 months in jail. 

Prosecutor Talent Tadenyika told the court that Zirume raped the girl after threatening to kill her with an okapi knife. 

Circumstances are that Zirume went to look for crickets with the minor and her two siblings. 

Zirume ordered the two siblings to return home and attend to the goats. 

He then produced a knife left and threatened to stab his niece if she screamed or spurned his advances. 

Zirume then carried the girl to a secluded area and raped her. He ordered her not to disclose the matter to anyone. 

The minor narrated the ordeal to her grandmother, who could not accompany her to file a Police report. 

The grandmother told her to wait and tell her grandfather when he returned home on Christmas day. 

The grandpa accompanied the minor to file a report at Donga Police Base. The Police took her to Shurugwi District Hospital for medical examinations. 

Zirume denied the charge during the trial and argued that he never went to look for crickets with the minor. The two siblings testified in court.