Crimes and Courts
Bulawayo \u2013 A 19-year-old man appeared before the Western Commonage Court this week, facing charges of raping his 12-year-old step-sister in a shocking case that has left the community reeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The accused, whose identity has been withheld to protect the victim, allegedly committed the crime in November 2024 while at home in Nkulumane with the girl and his younger stepbrother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to prosecutor Christina Manyika, an argument broke out after the accused assaulted the younger boy, creating an opportunity for the alleged attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe accused dragged the victim into his room, forced her onto the bed, and demanded that she remove her clothes,\u201d Manyika told the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen she resisted, he tore off her clothing and raped her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The court heard that the accused then threatened to kill both the girl and her brother if she reported the assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ordeal only came to light months later, on April 23, 2025, when the victim visited her mother in Chegutu. Concerned by a foul discharge, the mother rushed her daughter to the hospital, where the girl finally revealed the alleged abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe medical report will be presented as key evidence when the trial resumes,\u201d Manyika said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presiding Magistrate Sibongile Marondedze remanded the case to June 18 for further proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Local child rights activists have expressed outrage over the incident, calling for stricter protections for minors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a horrific violation of a child\u2019s safety and trust,\u201d said one advocate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe urge the justice system to act swiftly to ensure accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities have encouraged victims of abuse to come forward, assuring them of protection and support. Meanwhile, the community remains shaken as they await justice for the young survivor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zim GBC News\u00a92025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Crimes and CourtsBulawayo \u2013 A 19-year-old man appeared before the Western Commonage Court this week, facing charges of raping his 12-year-old step-sister in a shocking case that has left the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-court-and-crime-2","category-crime-and-court"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7282","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=7282"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7284,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7282\/revisions\/7284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}