Man rapes brother's two wives 'to punish him'

A 35-year-old man from Sanangwe Village under Chief Chikwanda in Masvingo has been sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment after admitting to raping his brother's two wives, claiming he wanted to "fix" his brother over a long-standing family dispute.

The man, who is believed to belong to an apostolic sect, appeared before Masvingo Regional Magistrate Innocent Bepura, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of rape.

He was sentenced on 14 July 2026.

The court heard that the attacks occurred on 20 June 2026 after the accused went to one of the complainants' bedrooms during the night looking for his brother.

According to prosecutor Innocent Mudzingwa, the accused forced open the woman's door while she was asleep and demanded to know where his brother was.

When he discovered that his brother was not in the room, he took a metal rod and proceeded to another bedroom where his brother was sleeping with his second wife.

He allegedly forced the door open and assaulted his brother with the metal rod.

The brother managed to flee from the house, leaving the two women behind.

The court heard that the accused then turned on the second complainant, slapping her several times before telling her he would have sexual intercourse with her as punishment for allowing his brother to escape.

Although she resisted, he threatened to kill her before raping her.

The accused then returned to the first complainant's room and raped her before leaving the homestead and walking back to his home.

The following morning, at about 6am, the first complainant informed her mother-in-law about the attacks.

Her husband later convened a family meeting, during which relatives agreed that the matter should be reported to the police, leading to the accused's arrest.

In mitigation, the accused told the court that he had harboured resentment towards his brother since 2016, alleging that his brother had refused to hand over his children's birth certificates.

He also claimed that the first complainant had instructed him to rape the second complainant as a way of "fixing" his brother.

The court convicted him on his own plea of guilty.

In passing sentence, the magistrate took into account the offender's personal circumstances, including that he has two wives, one of whom is pregnant, and six children, before imposing an effective 20-year prison term.