The trial of a 53-year-old Beitbridge-based cross-border transporter who allegedly raped his daughter from the time she was 13 for over three years until she fell pregnant is set to continue on January 18.
The accused, who is in custody, is alleged to have started raping the teenager when she was 13 until she fell pregnant at the age of 16 last year.
He denied three charges of rape on Friday when he appeared before Beitbridge Regional Magistrate Mr Innocent Bepura.
The man is accused of raping his daughter from his previous marriage and colluded with his new wife to illegally abort the pregnancy in December last year. The 47-year-old stepmother has already been jailed for four years by a local magistrate for initiating the illegal abortion.
Prosecuting, Miss Tsitsi Mutukwa said in August 2020, the accused arrived home at night and found his 13-year-old daughter in the company of her stepmother and other children. Later that evening, when everyone retired to bed, he remained with the girl who was busy with some school holiday work.
He then started to help her with schoolwork and during the process started caressing her body and then raped her while she sat on his lap, after which he told her to go and sleep.
The man tried to rape the girl in her bedroom in October 2022, but failed after finding her sleeping together with her elder sister. But the court heard he raped her in September 2023 after creeping up on her when she fell asleep while watching television.
Later that month the girl realised she was pregnant. She told a church leader in November who reported to a local pastor.
On December 3 last year the stepmother discovered the pregnancy and asked the girl who the father was. The teenager narrated her ordeal and the stepmother bought medication to terminate the pregnancy as a way of concealing the offence.
The issue came to light when one of the girl’s friends heard about this and advised the religious leader, leading to a police report.
She was taken to Beitbridge District Hospital for medical attention where it was discovered the pregnancy had been terminated. The couple was arrested and the medication used in the illegal abortion was recovered from their house.
