MARTIN MAWAYA
GWERU-Speaking through gasps of tears and other times with steady fierceness, a 12-year-old girl on Wednesday gave a graphic account of how her brother-in-law repeatedly raped her from early childhood until she was in grade 3.
A juvenile, now in grade seven, detailed how she pleaded for a stop while being held down and forcibly sexually assaulted by a man who was supposed to protect her.
The girl, whose name is withheld to protect her identity, gave the horrendous account before Gweru Regional Magistrate Christopher Maturure.
She told the court that her sister’s husband repeatedly raped her whenever her sister was absent from home and threatened that she would be arrested if she reported the matter to anyone.
“I had always lived in fear as he used to threaten me not to tell anyone about the incident and threatened me with arrest. On the first incident, he laid me on the bed and inserted his penis into my vagina for about 10 minutes. I cried because I felt the pain on my private parts when he raped me in broad daylight in the absence of my sister. I lied to him that I wanted to urinate and never returned back and stayed outside until my sister came back,” she sobbed while giving her testimony in camera.
She said she disclosed the matter in 2021 when the DREAMS organization team visited her school after her sister passed away.
“I opened up the matter when the DREAMS organization people visited our school and requested girls between the ages of 10 to 13 for a meeting. This was when I was in grade 3. They were teaching us about abuse and asking some questions like ‘Has someone indecently touched you on any part of your body?” she explained.
Although she opened up about the abuse during the guidance and counselling lessons at school, the matter came to light on December 24, 2024, when the complainant’s mother noticed some sores on her vagina.
The abuse, she said, had affected her mental health as her brother-in-law of Gumbure village, Chief Chiwundura, Gweru, continuously abused her.
“It was troubling me why I was subjected to indulging in sexual activities while at a young age. My private part was always itching and I was in pain,” she said.
She added that her brother-in-law had been using the two rooms at the time of the rapes before the extension of the house.
Former DREAMS organization staff member Trace Murwiti, who was employed as a guidance and counselling teacher during that time, told the court that during the interaction, the complainant indicated that she was sexually abused by her brother-in-law.
“I interviewed the complainant, took notes, and submitted them to my superiors for action,” she said.
The accused, who was slapped with an effective 18-year imprisonment sentence by Magistrate Maturure, testified that there was bad blood with his in-laws after the demise of his wife as he had not fully paid lobola.
“They are doing this to fix me because I didn’t pay the full lobola, hence there is a longstanding feud between us,” he said in his defence, which was dismissed by the court as fictitious.
The state, led by Sibangani Dube, told the court that on an unknown date during 2018, the complainant was staying with her sister together with the accused person.
During that time, the complainant’s sister was not feeling well and went to Gweru Provincial Hospital, leaving the complainant in the custody of the accused person.
The court heard that the accused took advantage of his wife’s absence and summoned the complainant to his bedroom, where he removed her pant and skirt.
He lowered his trousers to knee level, mounted on top of the complainant, and had sexual intercourse with her once without her consent.
The complainant did not tell anyone about the case, and the accused frequently raped her whenever her sister was away until 2021.
In 2024 the complainant revealed the matter to her mother, who then escorted her to the police.
