News / National
74 year old rapist who raped a 13 year old girl jailed for 9 years
10 Jan 2012 at 09:16hrs | Views
The 74 year-old Hatcliffe man who raped a 13-year-old HIV positive girl was yesterday slapped with a nine year jail term by a Harare magistrate.
Million Donado (74) of Malawian origin pleaded not guilty to rape charges, but magistrate Ms Esthere Chivasa convicted him after a full trial. It turned out during trial that the girl was born HIV positive and had been on Anti-retroviral therapy since birth.
Million Donado, who first appeared before a Harare magistrate on November 16, is of Malawian origin.
In passing sentence regional magistrate Esthere Chivasa said: "In assessing sentence, I have taken into account that the accused is aged 74 and clearly in the golden stage of his life. If it was any other offence I would be compelled to spare him a jail term. The accused is a senior citizen who clearly should be upholding society values but in this case because of his insatiable desire for sexual intercourse he pounced on this 13-year-old girl.
"Clearly society needs to be protected from such sexual predators, a custodial sentence is justified. Although the accused did not produce medical proof, he is old and frail such that sending him to prison for a lengthy term would be tantamount to sentencing him to death," said Chivasa.
Magistrate Chivasa had initially sentenced Donado to nine years behind bars before she suspended four years on condition of good behaviour in the next five years.
Donado denied the offence, despite the girl's brother telling the court that he caught him in the act.
The court heard that on November 12 last year, the girl went to Donado's house to fetch water from his well after she had been sent by her brother who wanted to wash plates.
Upon her arrival at his house, Donado grabbed and dragged her by the hand into his house.
While in the house, Donado tied the girl's hands, mouth and eyes with pieces of cloth so that she could not scream or resist his actions.
According to state papers, Donado forced the minor to the ground before removing her clothes and raped her once.
The court heard that the girl's brother who had seen his sister being dragged into the house made a follow-up. When he arrived at Donado's house, he saw him raping his sister. Donado later gave the girl a 5 rand coin to silence her.
According to the girl's brother, in his testimony in court, he said they later used the 5 rand to buy airtime and proceeded to call their mother, who had gone to work.
The mother later reported the matter to the police leading to Donado's arrest.
Million Donado (74) of Malawian origin pleaded not guilty to rape charges, but magistrate Ms Esthere Chivasa convicted him after a full trial. It turned out during trial that the girl was born HIV positive and had been on Anti-retroviral therapy since birth.
Million Donado, who first appeared before a Harare magistrate on November 16, is of Malawian origin.
In passing sentence regional magistrate Esthere Chivasa said: "In assessing sentence, I have taken into account that the accused is aged 74 and clearly in the golden stage of his life. If it was any other offence I would be compelled to spare him a jail term. The accused is a senior citizen who clearly should be upholding society values but in this case because of his insatiable desire for sexual intercourse he pounced on this 13-year-old girl.
"Clearly society needs to be protected from such sexual predators, a custodial sentence is justified. Although the accused did not produce medical proof, he is old and frail such that sending him to prison for a lengthy term would be tantamount to sentencing him to death," said Chivasa.
Magistrate Chivasa had initially sentenced Donado to nine years behind bars before she suspended four years on condition of good behaviour in the next five years.
Donado denied the offence, despite the girl's brother telling the court that he caught him in the act.
Upon her arrival at his house, Donado grabbed and dragged her by the hand into his house.
While in the house, Donado tied the girl's hands, mouth and eyes with pieces of cloth so that she could not scream or resist his actions.
According to state papers, Donado forced the minor to the ground before removing her clothes and raped her once.
The court heard that the girl's brother who had seen his sister being dragged into the house made a follow-up. When he arrived at Donado's house, he saw him raping his sister. Donado later gave the girl a 5 rand coin to silence her.
According to the girl's brother, in his testimony in court, he said they later used the 5 rand to buy airtime and proceeded to call their mother, who had gone to work.
The mother later reported the matter to the police leading to Donado's arrest.
Source - DN I TH
