News / Regional
Boy (13) convicted on three counts of rape
28 Dec 2011 at 23:14hrs | Views
A 13-year-old boy from Plumtree who reportedly raped different minors between April and August this year has been convicted on three counts of rape.
The accused shared the same bedroom hut with his 10-year-old cousin who is one of the victims.
He would leave his blankets and sneak into her blankets where he would rape her.
On some of the occasions the boy would rape his neighbours' children when they went to play at his parents' homestead in the evening.
The minor boy has since September been on remand at the Luveve Remand Centre until his sentence.
Bulawayo regional magistrate, Godwin Sengweni yesterday found the boy guilty of three counts of rape and ordered that he be sent to Kadoma Training Institution in terms of Section 35(2) b of the Code.
The boy who initially was facing six counts, had pleaded guilty to three of the three counts. The state later withdrew the three other counts.
The boy told the court that he was doing Grade Four because he started school late.
The State led by Ms Sifiso Ndlovu said the boy was in the habit of molesting girls in his community, which is why he was remanded at Luveve Remand Centre where the Probation Officer recommended that he be sent to a reformatory centre because he had the potential to repeat the offence.
The State's case was that on unknown dates but between 1 April and 30 August, the boy was sleeping in the same room with his cousin.
He left his blankets and joined her where he raped her once before returning to his blankets.
The boy repeated the offence on several occasions using the same modus operandi.
In some instances, he would indecently assault the little girls by having anal sex with them.
Each morning the girl would inform the boy's mother but she would defend her son saying he would never do such a thing.
At one point the boy raped a neighbour's little daughter who had visited his parents' homestead to play in full view of other minor children.
The matter only came to light after other minor girls whom he had abused revealed their experiences, and the girl also narrated her ordeal on 20 September.
On one of the incidents, the boy covered one of the girls with a blanket while they were playing and raped her once.
The accused shared the same bedroom hut with his 10-year-old cousin who is one of the victims.
He would leave his blankets and sneak into her blankets where he would rape her.
On some of the occasions the boy would rape his neighbours' children when they went to play at his parents' homestead in the evening.
The minor boy has since September been on remand at the Luveve Remand Centre until his sentence.
Bulawayo regional magistrate, Godwin Sengweni yesterday found the boy guilty of three counts of rape and ordered that he be sent to Kadoma Training Institution in terms of Section 35(2) b of the Code.
The boy who initially was facing six counts, had pleaded guilty to three of the three counts. The state later withdrew the three other counts.
The boy told the court that he was doing Grade Four because he started school late.
The State's case was that on unknown dates but between 1 April and 30 August, the boy was sleeping in the same room with his cousin.
He left his blankets and joined her where he raped her once before returning to his blankets.
The boy repeated the offence on several occasions using the same modus operandi.
In some instances, he would indecently assault the little girls by having anal sex with them.
Each morning the girl would inform the boy's mother but she would defend her son saying he would never do such a thing.
At one point the boy raped a neighbour's little daughter who had visited his parents' homestead to play in full view of other minor children.
The matter only came to light after other minor girls whom he had abused revealed their experiences, and the girl also narrated her ordeal on 20 September.
On one of the incidents, the boy covered one of the girls with a blanket while they were playing and raped her once.
Source - Zimpapers
