Man (23) breaks in attempts to rape old lady (70)

A 23-YEAR-OLD Zvishavane man's insatiable appetite for sex landed him in trouble with the law after he broke into a house in the middle of the night and attempted to rape a 70-year-old woman he had found sleeping in the house, the Subday News reported.

Fredrick Gwandu, whose address was not given, appeared before Zvishavane magistrate Mr Peter Madiba facing charges of indecent assault as defined under section 67 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, chapter 9.23.

He also answered charges of unlawful entry into premises as defined under section 131 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act chapter 9.23.

Circumstances against Gwandu are that sometime in March this year at around 11pm, Gwandu forced himself into the complainant's house after he broke the front door using a screwdriver.

After breaking into the house, he proceeded to the main bedroom where he found the complainant lying on her bed naked.
Gwandu quickly climbed onto the bed where the complainant was sleeping and started fondling her, resulting in the complainant waking up, before Gwandu could complete his mission.

The complainant, on realising that there was an unwelcome visitor in the house and on her bed, screamed for help, alerting her niece, who was sleeping in another room.

The complainant's niece, whose name is also withheld to protect the victim, reacted swiftly and found Gwandu in her aunt's room.

Gwandu started pleading with the complainant and her niece not to report him to the police, but the two would not budge resulting in him fleeing the scene and disappearing into the thick darkness.

The complainant, accompanied by her niece, reported the matter to Zvishavane police who arrested Gwandu at his house, on the same night.

Gwandu was convicted on his plea and slapped with a 12-month jail term. He will, however, serve an effective eight months after four months of the sentence were suspended, on condition that he does not commit a similar crime within the next four years.

Gwandu stunned the court when he confessed that he had been coveting the complainant for a long time and had for long been yearning to have sex with her.

"Ndanga ndagara ndichida kurara navo mbuya ava. Ndaivachiva kubva kare asi ndaishaya mukana". (I really wanted to have sex with her. I had been admiring her for a long time, but I never had a chance to be with her).

Mr Sabastian Chimuramba prosecuted.