HARARE – A 45-year-old man from Hopely, Harare, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting his elderly acquaintance following a beer-drinking session. Samuel Chipakacha was convicted of aggravated indecent assault after a full trial before Harare regional magistrate Mrs Jesse Kufa.
The court heard that Chipakacha sexually assaulted his 60-year-old acquaintance on February 23 this year, after the pair had been drinking at Uncle Grey Shebeen in Hopely. Prosecutor Ms Shambadzeni Fungura told the court that Chipakacha took advantage of the complainant’s intoxicated state to commit the crime.
According to the State, the complainant, who lives in the same neighbourhood as Chipakacha, became heavily intoxicated and decided to leave the shebeen around 1pm to rest at home. However, Chipakacha reportedly followed him to his house shortly afterwards.
When Chipakacha arrived at the complainant’s house, he allegedly found him lying on his bed. The court heard that Chipakacha removed both his and the complainant’s trousers before sexually assaulting him by engaging in non-consensual anal intercourse.
The incident was witnessed by a local resident, Kindness Mavhura, who entered the complainant’s house unannounced and reportedly saw Chipakacha in the act. Later that evening, Mavhura informed the complainant about what had transpired when the complainant visited Mavhura’s house around 8 pm.
The matter was immediately reported to the police, and the complainant underwent a medical examination, which corroborated the assault.
In her ruling, magistrate Kufa condemned Chipakacha’s actions, describing them as a violation of trust and human dignity. The magistrate said that Chipakacha had committed a heinous crime that deserved a stiff penalty.
Meanwhile, in a separate and equally disturbing case, a motor mechanic based at Rukweza Business Centre in Nyazura has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for indecent assault after he sodomised his son in an attempt to enhance his business.
The 40-year-old man, whose name has been withheld to protect the identity of the victim, informed the court that he had abused his 13-year-old son on the advice of a traditional healer.
It is alleged that the accused first harassed his wife, the teenager’s mother, until she left their matrimonial home. He then took advantage of her absence to perpetrate the abuse against his son.
Unable to endure the ongoing abuse, the teenager fled their homestead and sought refuge on the streets of Rusape.
The father, who was unrepresented when he appeared before Rusape regional magistrate Francis Mapfumo, did not prolong the proceedings and pleaded guilty to the charges.
When questioned by Mapfumo about the reasons for his actions, the convict stated that he was following the traditional healer’s advice in the belief that it would help to improve his business. He said: “I approached a traditional healer trying to find ways on how I can grow my business. The traditional healer told me that I should be intimate with my own son. I did exactly that.”
The magistrate said the father’s moral blame-worthiness was very high, and sentenced him to the maximum of 20 years in jail for aggravated indecent assault and did not suspend any part of the sentence.
Prosecutor Marlon Makamba informed the court that the father began abusing his son in November 2024 and continued until March 2025, when the teenager ultimately fled the homestead. Said Makamba: “Sometime between November 2024 and March 2025, the accused person abused the complainant on several occasions. The complainant later went missing from home. The matter came to light after the complainant was located by his mother at Evergreen Market in Rusape.”
The mother interviewed the complainant, and he revealed that his father was abusing him. The complainant was medically examined at Rusape General Hospital, and the medical report can be produced in court.
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