An 18-year-old Beit Bridge woman, who sexually abused her 11-year-old brother-in-law, was jailed for 10 years after being convicted of the crime. The woman will, however, spend an effective five years in prison, after regional magistrate Mrs Mavis Kudumba suspended five years of the prison term. The young woman had denied the charge, saying she was not acquainted with the boy. “I do not know this boy. I never raped him. In fact, I am 18-years-old and cannot rape an 11-year-old when I have my own husband,” she argued in court. However, the magistrate convicted the woman on the back of overwhelming evidence. In passing judgment, Mrs Kudumba said the woman had disrespected cultural practice, which expected her to play a motherly role to the boy. The court heard that the woman sexually assaulted the boy in March after summoning him to her homestead. It was testified that he didn´t want to participate in any sexual practises with her and she then took a whip and assaulted the boy until he complied. She then dragged him to the kitchen hut, stripped him naked and forced him into intimacy. The woman threatened the boy with further lashing if he revealed the abuse to anyone. A few days later, the boy’s private parts started swelling and his mother took him to a local hospital for treatment. Nurses at the hospital diagnosed a sexually transmitted infection and alerted the mother, who then quizzed the boy until he revealed what have happened. A report was made to the police, leading to the woman’s arrest.