Man (22) who raped 3-year-old daughter to spend 15yrs in jail

A Harare man, who raped his three-year-old daughter while the mother was away, will spend the next 15 years behind bars.

The 22-year-old man denied the rape charge but was convicted after a full trial.

Regional magistrate Mr Hosea Mujaya sentenced him to 18 years in prison but set aside three years on condition of good behaviour.

Prosecutor Mrs Kudzai Chigwedere told the court that on March 13, the man sent his wife around 4pm to go and borrow a chicken from their neigbour.

This was after the man's wife had finished bathing their daughter.

After his wife had gone out, the man took his daughter into the bedroom where he raped her before ordering her not to tell anyone.

When the toddler's mother returned home, she noticed that her daughter's skirt had been lifted up.

The toddler told her mother that she wanted to change her pant arguing that it was wet.

Her mother checked her pant and noticed that it had some semen prompting her to question her daughter who then revealed that her father had raped her.

The matter was reported to the police leading to the man's arrest.