FAITH NDOU
GUTU-Shepherd Chigwerembe (18) of Chigwerembe village under Chief Chimombe in Gutu who was employed as a security guard at Donzam Company has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for raping a woman at Matezva dam under Chief Marozva in Bikita.
Chigwerembe was sentenced by Masvingo Regional Magistrate Innocent Bepura after the court heard that he committed the offence on June 30 2026, at around 7pm while the complainant was walking past Matezva dam.
The state represented by Nixon Chamisa, told the court that Chigwerembe followed the complainant before catching up with her and pushing her to the ground.
The court heard that he grabbed her by the neck, struck her several times on the face and head with stones, tore her trousers and threatened to kill her if she failed to comply with his demands to have sexual intercourse with her.
Chigwerembe forced himself on her without her consent but abandoned the act after seeing lights from an approaching vehicle before fleeing from the scene.
The matter was reported to the police, leading to his arrest, recovery of the torn trousers and a medical report which were produced as exhibits in court.
During mitigation, Chigwerembe’s lawyer told the court that the accused had committed the offence when he was 17 years old, an argument that sought to have him considered as a juvenile.
However, the state produced a birth certificate indicating that Chigwerembe was born on July 15 2007, showing that he had already turned 18 years old by the time he committed the offence.
Magistrate Bepura dismissed the argument, ruling that Chigwerembe could not be treated as a juvenile as he was an adult at the time of the offence.
“The fact that you pushed the complainant down, grabbed her by the neck, threw stones at her and threatened to kill her shows that you are a dangerous person to society,” Bepura said.
The magistrate said the violent manner in which the offence was committed meant that Chigwerembe could not escape a custodial sentence.
He sentenced him to 15 years in prison.
