A 33-year-old Beit Bridge man who teamed up with his ailing wife, before they hoodwinked a 15-year-old girl into sleeping with him, was sentenced to an effective 9 months in jail.

The accused, from Joko village in the Chief Sitauze area in Beit Bridge district, was convicted on his own admission of guilt to contravening a section of the Sexual Offences Act by Beit Bridge magistrate Mr Ignatio Mhene. He was sentenced to one year imprisonment, of which three months of the sentence were conditionally suspended for three years.

The court heard that in December last year, the suspect asked his wife, who is reportedly suffering from cancer, to look for a girlfriend for him, since she was sick.

The accused, with the assistance of his wife, then proposed the girl from the same village and she eventually consented.

Makwenya took the victim to his homestead on different occasions, where he slept with her.

Sometime in January, the girl was spotted by her mother at the accused’s homestead. On arrival home later in the evening, the mother asked the girl where she was coming from, before beating her and in the process she then confessed that she had been sleeping with the accused.

A report was made to the police, leading to the arrest of the accused.

Meanwhile, the State has since opened charges against the accused’s wife for allegedly conspiring with her husband to secure sexual services of a minor.