THE State is pushing for a stiff sentence for a 25-year-old man who was last week convicted of bedding and impregnating a 13-year-old after his HIV test results came back positive.
Harare magistrate Patricia Sangaza-Kamwanda postponed the man’s sentence to next Tuesday.
This comes after the state represented by Hazvineyi Chiota-Rukande submitted that the convict, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the girl, is supposed to be sentenced not less than 10 years behind bars.
“According to Section 80, any person who is convicted of any related sexual offences involving penetration must be given a sentence of a minimum of 10 years imprisonment,” Chiota-Rukande submitted.
In mitigation, the man said he had engaged in sexual intercourse with the minor, who was 12 when the pair first slept together last year, after she lied about her age.
“I thought the girl was 16-years-old and I only knew her when she came to our house to play with my eight-year-old sister,” he told the court.
Chiota-Rukande told the court that the man proposed love to the minor, fully aware of her age since they have been staying together in the same neighbourhood for the past 10 years. She said the man was lying since the two families’ houses were just 100m apart.
After proposing to the minor in May last year, the duo started dating until sometime this year when the man requested the girl to come to his house. While at the house, he is alleged to have lured the girl into his bedroom where they two engaged in sexual intercourse without protection.
Sometime in August this year whilst the girl’s mother was not at home, the minor confided in their maid that the man had impregnated her and she was planning to elope.
On the following day when the mother returned, the maid told her about the matter and they immediately proceeded to the police, leading to the man’s arrest. During her appearance on the stand, the minor told the court that she was in love with the man.
“I did not reveal the matter to anyone because we were in love and he is my husband and the father of my unborn baby,” said the girl.
