Girl (9) raped, left unconscious at cemetery

A nine-year-old girl from Makokoba was raped at a Bulawayo cemetery by a 63-year old Binga man  before choking and leaving her unconscious.

Elias Siampande is said to have met the girl and asked her to assist him carry bread to his house but instead of going to his place of residence, walked with the girl to a bushy area at West Park Cemetery.

Siampande raped the girl once and she screamed due to the pain  and later choked the child until she lost consciousness and left her at the cemetery.

Siampande was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment,  four years suspended for five years on condition that the accused does not commit a crime in which sexual misconduct is an element.

magistrate regional magistrate Trynos Utawashe said Siampande was supposed to act as a father to the little girl and was supposed to be ashamed of himself.

"Cases of child sexual abuse have increased of late due to people who behave like beasts in the communities," said Utawashe.

"Such people must be stopped, and for a 63-year-old man to commit such a crime is a shameful thing because he is supposed to be teaching and counselling his children and grandchildren and not going around committing crimes that are not meant to be committed by elderly man like him."

According to Sunday News, on 27 December 2014, the minor met Siampande at Madlodlo Beer Garden at 5pm where he asked her to help him carry his loaves of bread to his house, and the little girl agreed.

However, Siampande is saisd to have led the girl to the cemetery and raped her once.

Court papers reveal that the child gained consciousness around midnight when she discovered that the accused had disappeared from the scene.

Confused, the child walked towards town where she met someone who showed her the way to Makokoba suburb.

The child narrated the story to her mother, leading to the arrest of Siampande whom the child clearly identified.