A 35-year-old Zimbabwean man was sentenced to an effective 25 years in jail for raping his young brother’s wife.

The man, a resident of Zimuto village outside Beit Bridge, pleaded not guilty to four counts of rape when he appeared before a local regional magistrate, Ms Ester Muremba. He was, however, found guilty of the offence after a full trial and sentenced to 30 years on all four counts.

Five years were conditionally suspended for five years, leaving him with an effective 25 years to serve.

According to the prosecution, the accused committed the offence when he had just been released from jail where he was serving time for another rape case.

It was testified that on 22 November 2010, the man came home drunk at around 02:00. He went to his brother’s hut and asked if the brother was there. He was told by his brother's wife that her husband was away. He then demanded that the victim open the door under the guise that he wanted to take a hoe, which he wanted to use in the fields later in the morning.

She then told him to wait until she had dressed herself, but the man forced the door open and entered the room. He subsequently dragged her to his hut, which was in the same yard, where he tied up her legs and raped her four times, threatening to stab her with a kitchen knife.

He was later tracked down by the police and arrested.

In a related case, another 20-year-old local man was sentenced to an effective nine years for raping his paternal uncle’s four-year-old daughter. The man, who is from the same village, was convicted on his own plea of guilty to a rape charge when he appeared before the same magistrate.

The court heard that on 16 February this year, the accused was left to look after the child while her parents went to another village. At around 12:00, he lifted the girl onto his lap and unzipped his trousers before removing the victim’s panties. He then raped the girl once.

When the victim’s parents came back later in the evening, she told them of what had transpired and a report was made to the police, leading to the accused man’s arrest.

The girl was taken to the doctor for a medical examination and a medical report proved that she had indeed been raped.