An HIV-positive man assaulted and r*ped his 18-year-old daughter after she refused his request for intimacy. The crime was reported by the teen’s stepmother, which led to the man’s arrest.
A Harare magistrate sentenced the man on June 12 to an effective 20 years in jail for s*xually abusing his 18-year-old daughter despite knowing that he was HIV positive.
Magistrate Donald Ndirowei found the man guilty after prosecutor Shambadzeni Fungura presented evidence that on March 2 this year, the man went to Epworth and informed his sister, who was residing with the daughter, that he intended to take her home.
Fungura informed the court that the man and his daughter boarded a commuter omnibus and got off near Coronation Avenue in Greendale, along the Harare-Mutare Highway, where he touched her private parts. They later walked to his friend’s house, where he consumed whiskey before taking his daughter home.
Fungura also informed the court that while at his house, the man expressed his desire to be intimate with his daughter, but she declined. Fungura mentioned that the daughter, noticing her father’s inappropriate behavior, recorded the conversation using her mobile phone.
The court additionally heard that the father, reacting poorly to his daughter’s rejection, attacked and r*ped her.
The daughter contemplated suicide and her stepmother convinced her to go for counseling. The stepmother then reported the teen’s father.
In sentencing the man, Ndirowei applauded the daughter’s stepmother, who reported the case to the police after the girl sent her the recording.
He described the offence as gruesome, adding that the man deserved to be punished for the crime because he emotionally damaged the teenage girl.
“The victim was seriously psychologically injured at the hands of her father that she even contemplated committing suicide. She only changed her mind after counselling was administered to her at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals when her stepmom managed to convince her to take the sessions,” Ndirowei said.
He said the man had to be “crucified” for his crime as the medical report submitted during trial revealed that despite knowing that he was HIV positive, he r*ped his daughter.
“During the pre-sentencing hearing, it was revealed that the offender was HIV positive and was aware of his status. The victim fortunately received post-exposure prophylaxis (treatment) within 72 hours since she reported early and tested negative for the virus,” he said.
Ndirowei sentenced the man to the presumptive penalty of 20 years imprisonment despite the girl’s plea to sentence her father to life imprisonment.
