Man sentenced to hang for killing his step-daughter

A 41-YEAR-OLD Mberengwa man was yesterday slapped with a death sentence for killing his three-year-old stepdaughter who he had forced to accompany him to fetch firewood.

Samson Mutero raped the minor before assaulting her all over the body with an unknown object until she fell unconscious.

Mutero carried the now-deceased toddler to the homestead, where she later died as result of the assault.

Delivering judgment, High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha said there were aggravating circumstances in the manner in which the accused murdered his stepdaughter before convicting him of murder with actual intent.

Kamocha said Mutero's actions were heinous and only capital punishment was right sentence in the circumstances.

State prosecutor Tafadzwa Mpariwa told the court that on September 20 2013, the accused was at homestead in the company of the deceased and her mother.

The accused took the deceased into a bushy area on the pretext that he wanted her to assist him in fetching firewood.

Once in the bush, Mutero raped the complainant before assaulting her all over the body with an unknown object until she fell unconscious.

Mutero carried the little girl to the homestead, where he lied to his wife that she had suffered from epileptic fits in the bush.

The girl later died and accused arranged for her to be buried in Nkomonye village under Chief Nyamhondo, Mberengwa.

The village head, however, became suspicious and reported the matter, leading to the arrest of the accused person.

A post mortem concluded the cause of death as unascertained due to decomposition as well as lacerated rectum and sexual abuse.