Rapist father pours hot porridge on pregnant daughter

A RUSAPE man who raped his biological daughter several times recently ran amok and scalded her with hot porridge after she told him that she was pregnant.

The victim (17) (name withheld) discovered that she was pregnant in August this year but only managed to alert the father about pregnancy that is now in its third month on October 2. Her action backfired terribly when the father poured hot porridge all over her body.

The girl sustained serious facial, neck, head and hands burns.

The man (64) (name withheld), who is denying the allegations, allegedly went on to lock his seriously burnt daughter in the house for a week.

It took the intervention of a courageous neighbour, who got wind of the abuse, to rescue and take the scalded and traumatised girl to Rusape General Hospital for treatment.

The victim's condition had worsened due to lack of treatment. Manicaland deputy police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Luxson Chananda confirmed the incident, which he said happened in Zambe village, under Chief Makoni, last week.

Asst Insp Chananda said the father would allegedly rape his daughter during his wife's absence and threaten her with death if she divulged the heinous offence to anyone.

"The accused took advantage of the absence of his wife, who is the girl's mother, to sexually abuse her before threatening her with death if ever she divulged the abuse to anyone.

"The victim sustained injuries from the hot porridge attack, but the father went on lock her inside the house for more than a week. The matter came to light early this month when a neighbour took the complainant to the hospital for treatment. This is when she divulged the abuse, leading to the arrest of her abusive father," said Asst Insp Chananda.

The victim is still admitted at Rusape General Hospital (burns ward) where authorities said she was responding well to treatment.

The man is expected in court soon.

In a similar incident, another 64-year-old man from Marange was this week arrested for allegedly raping and impregnating his 18-year-old daughter.

The teenager concealed the offence until her bulging tummy sold her out.

The man (name withheld) on Monday pleaded guilty to rape charges when he appeared before Mutare magistrate, Ms Perseverance Makala.

He was remanded in custody to October 22 for sentencing.

Mr Fletcher Karombe prosecuted.

Mr Karombe told the court that the accused, who resides in Masharu Village, allegedly started raping his daughter in 2009 resulting in her eventually falling pregnant.

"It is alleged that sometime in 2009 the accused arrived home drunk and found his daughter in the kitchen hut preparing supper. He took advantage of the absence of his wife and grabbed her and raped her. The complainant tried to resist saying it was taboo, but the father threatened her with death if she refused or disclosed the matter to anyone.

"The complainant was only nine years and very young when the sexual abuse started. She was in primary school, a factor that shows that she was just an innocent and young girl who looked up to the father for protection," he added.

Mr Karombe said the matter came to light when the girl's mother noticed a bulging stomach and some strange behaviour by the girl in January this year.

The mother took the girl to Mhondoro where she left her in the custody of some relatives, who then quizzed her until she spilled the beans pointing the accusing finger at her father.

This led to the arrest of the accused.

The victim gave birth on September 23, 2018.