A man from Nyamandlovu in Matabeleland North province has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for rɑping a 14-year-old mentally challenged girl.
Shelton Ncube, 37, had pleaded not guilty to the two counts of rɑpǝ but was convicted and sentenced to serve an effective 12 years in jail after three years of the sentence were suspended for five years subject to good behaviour.
During the trial, Ncube claimed that the victim had asked him for help as she was staying with her father and stepmother. He insisted that he promised to buy her clothes and beauty products, and that she had agreed to have ƨǝxuɑl interc0urse with him in exchange for groceries.
On 4 May, Ncube approached the victim who was selling vegetables along a dust road in village 7 Acute and Crews, and asked her to follow him to the bush. He then rɑpǝd her there. A passerby saw them and Ncube fled, leaving the victim behind. Later that day, he found her waiting for him at a grid along Nyamandlovu Ticehurst road, where he rɑpǝd her again.
After the second rɑpǝ, Ncube gave the victim soap and salt before instructing her to go home. The victim later disclosed the ordeal to the village head, who escorted her and Ncube to the police station.
A medical report was produced in court as evidence, and Ncube was found guilty of the charges. In sentencing him, the magistrate considered the seriousness of the offence and the need to protect vulnerable groups in society.
