The Sunday Mail
Noah Pito in Hurungwe
A 58-year-old polygamist here will spend 18 months in prison for incest after he slept with his 16-year-old step-daughter “because his three wives were nursing newborns”. The man from Nyamukurira Village also said he did not use protection during intercourse as he did not know how to use condoms, and now the girl is said to be pregnant. Karoi magistrate Mr Obedience Matare slapped the man with 28 months’ imprisonment, but set aside 10 months provided he does not commit a similar offence in the next five years.
In April 2016, the court heard, the man — who has 21 children — asked his step-daughter to sleep with him. The teenager gave in after the polygamist told her that he could not sleep with any of his three wives as they were nursing newborns.
The sexual relationship ran until June when observant neighbours alerted the man’s wives as to what was happening. The wives made a police report leading to the man’s arrest.
During the trial, Mr Matare asked, “You had just made your three wives pregnant; why did you not see the possibility of making her pregnant? Did you take any precaution?” The man said he did not how to use a condom, to which the magistrate retorted: “This is scandalous! Any man who helps himself to a teenager is a danger to society.” Mr Webster Dimingu prosecuted.
