RAPIST GRANDPA : I'M NO LONGER SEXUALLY ACTIVE

AN 87-year-old man from Chiredzi allegedly raped his two nieces, aged six and seven-years-old, several times and threatened them with unspecified action in a bid to silence them.
The man, who lives in Chief Tshilonga’s area, took advantage of the absence of the siblings’ parents to rape them on separate occasions.

During trial, the man, who has developed hearing problems due to old age, kept on denying the charge, blaming his relatives for peddling lies against him. He maintained that he was a caring grandfather who was no longer sexually active.

“Your Worship, I’ve not committed such a crime on my grandchildren. Besides I’m no longer sexually active given my advanced age and the nieces look up to me for protection,” he said.
Appearing before Masvingo regional magistrate Judith Zuyu on Tuesday, the man pleaded not guilty to three counts of rape. He was remanded out of custody to March 4 for judgment after his alleged victims testified in camera.

Prosecuting, Moreblessing Rusere told the court that between August last year and January this year, the man, who was left with the children each time their parents went to the nearest growth point for vending, raped the minors.

“On unknown dates to the court but between August 2015 and January this year, the man was left in custody of the two minors by their mother. He called the two minors one after the other to his bedroom hut after which he ordered one minor to take off her clothes. On another day sometime in October, he also called one of the minors and raped her once in a similar fashion. The man ordered the minors to sleep while facing upwards before raping them,” said Rusere.
She said the man would threaten his victims with unspecified action if they told anyone about the rape.Their mother discovered the abuse of her daughters.

“The mother noticed that one of the girls had difficulties in walking after which she made her own investigations. She suspected that the two minors could have been sexually abused and took them to the clinic where it was discovered that there was penetration,” Rusere said.
When the minors were interrogated, they revealed to their mother what they had been going through and the man was reported to the police, leading to his arrest.