Sukuoluhle Ndlovu
Masvingo – A 15 year old juvenile (name withheld) told the court that she will commit suicide if her boyfriend is sent to prison for having sexual intercourse with her.
Both the young person and accused are from Masvingo.
The accused Takudzwanashe Keith Mugwira appeared before Masvingo Magistrate Candice Kasere on the 29th of October.
He pleaded guilty to the offence and was sentenced to 72hours of community service sentence till the day the young person turns 16 in two weeks time.
It is in the state’s case that the two love birds met this year in September at Sisk Business Centre and Mugwira proposed love to the young person and she accepted the proposal.
As the relationship grew, on the 19th day of September 2020 in the afternoon, Mugwira called the young person and she complied to the invitation and went to his place of residence . The young person entered Mugwira’s room and they had consensual sexual intercourse twice.
Sometime in October, Mugwira again invited the young person to his place and the two both had consensual sexual intercourse.
The matter then came to light when Christine Chidhindo, mother to the young person was informed by a neighbor that the young person had been entering Mugwira’s room.
Chidhindo then confronted her daughter and she revealed the case.
In court, the young person said, ‘’I love my boyfriend and if he is sent to jail l will kill myself as what my parents are doing is so unfair,” she said.
The fathers girl is said to have beaten the girl and her boyfriend.
Zimbabwe statutory rape states that it is against the law if an individual has consensual sexual contact with a person under age 16.
