52 year-old man jailed for raping intellectually challenged minor

A 52-year-old man has been jailed for raping a minor.

Peter Sithole was arraigned before the Harare Magistrates Court facing the rape charges.

The brief facts are that on 1st July 2023 the accused person who was selling rat poison was called by the complainant who wanted to enquire on the price.

“The complainant is a 12 year old intellectually challenged minor,” the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.

Sithole asked for Vaseline which the complainant went to collect from the bedroom. He followed her to the bedroom where he raped her.

“The house help walked in on the accused person and she alerted the neighbors who confronted the accused person and reported the matter to the Police leading to the accused person’s arrest,” the NPA added.

Sithole will serve an effective 14 years. He was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment of which two years were suspended for 5 years on condition that the accused person does not commit an offence of a sexual nature.