Crimes and Courts Correspondent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BEITBRIDGE \u2014 A 20-year-old man from Gabara village, Goodman Zhou, has been sentenced to an effective 15 years in prison for the sexual abuse of his neighbor\u2019s three-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conviction comes after a disturbing case that has shocked the local community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zhou was accused of taking advantage of the situation when the complainant\u2019s father was asleep. The horrifying incident occurred on October 16 at approximately 1 PM, when the toddler\u2019s mother left her in the care of her husband and two brothers while she went to a local grinding mill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prosecutor Mr. Willbrought Muleya provided the court with details of the case, stating,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe accused later arrived and took the complainant and another brother to his homestead. At his homestead, he gave his brother some money and sent him to buy a few items at the nearby tuck-shop. He then took advantage and raped the girl after smearing her genitals with Vaseline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zhou was caught in the act by the victim\u2019s brother, who witnessed the assault. According to Muleya, Zhou threatened both children, warning them not to disclose the incident. He subsequently released them to return home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The case came to light when the complainant\u2019s mother noticed her daughter crying and, upon inquiry, learned about the disturbing event. She reported the matter to the police, who later arrested Zhou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his appearance before Beitbridge regional magistrate Ms. Charity Maphosa, Zhou pleaded not guilty to the charges. However, he was convicted based on the strength of the evidence presented by the State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sentencing of Goodman Zhou has been met with relief in the community, as many express their outrage over the crime and call for greater protection of vulnerable children. The case highlights the urgent need for increased awareness and preventive measures against child abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zim GBC News\u00a92024<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Crimes and Courts Correspondent BEITBRIDGE \u2014 A 20-year-old man from Gabara village, Goodman Zhou, has been sentenced to an effective 15 years in prison for the sexual abuse of his… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-court"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6574"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6576,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6574\/revisions\/6576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}