Man beds minor, fined $200

A 25-YEAR-OLD Dangamvura man who pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse with a minor was fined $200 last week.

Failure to pay the fine by May 13, 2016, means he will spend four months behind bars. He was also sentenced to three months imprisonment which were suspended on condition that he does not commit a similar offence in the next five years.

Manica Post reported Elijah Marume was initially being charged with rape, but was convicted of bedding a minor after the court established that the minor had consented.

Presiding over the matter was senior Mutare magistrate, Sekai Chiundura, while Fletcher Karombe prosecuted.

The court heard that in December 2014, Marume proposed love to the minor (13) and she consented. Marume slept with the minor on various occasions.

Karombe said on April 1, the minor eloped to Marume's house.

The minor's mother received a tip-off that Marume was staying with her daughter and she made a police report leading to his arrest.

Asked why he committed the offence, Marume told the court that he was not aware of her age.

Chiundura sentenced him to pay a fine and ordered him to desist from such behaviour.