Rape victim's ordeal leaves trial magistrate shattered

Harare magistrate Ms Sandra Mupindu last week described the rape of an eight-year-old girl who suffered extensive multiple tears of the hymen as horrific and as something she had never dealt with in her 10 years of experience. The eight-year-old girl, who was raped twice by a 32-year-old man, was later found kneeling near the crime scene after failing to walk home.

Her mother found her two hours later after a search for the child. The girl was subsequently hospitalised. The rapist was sentenced to an effective 18 years in jail. In passing sentence, Ms Mupindu said the girl suffered extensive multiple tears.

"In my 10-years' experience as a magistrate, I have never met such a disturbing medical report. What makes the offence aggravating is that the rapist is 32-years -old. The little girl is traumatised," she said. The prosecutor, Ms Ressy Nyamombe, told the court that the girl is a Grade 2 pupil.

The incident occurred on July 1 this year at around 6pm as the girl was walking home from school alone. She met the rapist who was in the company of another man. The trio walked for some distance together because she knew them.

As the girl was about to take a separate way home, the rapist told his companion that he was taking the child home as it was getting dark. He then dragged the girl into a nearby bush and pushed her to the ground. The court heard that he gagged the eight-year-old's mouth and raped her twice.