Danisa Masuku
A 19-YEAR-OLD man from Bulawayo has been arrested for allegedly raping his cousin resulting in her falling pregnant.
A family member who requested not to be named said the man allegedly started raping his cousin sometime in June 2020 when she was 13 years old.
The family member said at the time the pair were staying together with their 63-year-old grandmother in Bulawayo’s Njube suburb.
The alleged rapist was sleeping in his bedroom while the victim slept in the kitchen with her younger sister.
It is said that the alleged sex attacker would wake up during the night and tiptoe to the kitchen where he would sneak into his cousin’s blankets and allegedly rape her.
It developed into a habit that every night he would sneak into her blankets and allegedly engage in sex with a condom with her.
In September last year he reportedly started to engage in unprotected sex with her and as a result she fell pregnant.
The girl reported the matter to her grandmother and the granny reportedly tried to sweep it under the carpet.
“Her grandmother sweet-talked her not to report the matter to the police and told her that it was going to be a disgrace to the family. The minor girl conformed and kept the matter to herself and later left for South Africa where she later gave birth,” the family member said.
After that she was forced to return to Zimbabwe and stayed with her aunt in Cowdray Park suburb.
The aunt, the family member said, became suspicious after she noticed that the child looked like the alleged sex attacker and she asked her who the father of the child was.
The victim then opened up to her and told her that it was her cousin who had allegedly raped her resulting in her falling pregnant.
The aunt then advised her to report the matter to the police leading to the arrest of her cousin.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident.
He advised victims to report such cases at the earliest possible time so that they could get medical attention and counselling.
