A 59-YEAR-OLD Hwange man has been arrested for rape and indecent assault after he allegedly inserted fingers into his 14-year-old daughter’s privates before raping her claiming he was checking her virginity.
Virginity testing is a cultural practice done by some ethnic groups around the world including Zimbabwe, to determine whether a girl or woman has had sexual intercourse before.
Gender and human rights activists have called for the elimination of the practice saying it is a violation of girls' and women's rights.
The man, who cannot be named to protect the girl, allegedly committed the crimes between July 18 and July 23 when the two were alone in the absence of the girl’s mother who was out of town.
He told his daughter that it was his duty as a parent to check if she was still a virgin or not.
The man allegedly inserted fingers and raped the girl on July 18 before touching privates and caressing her for three consecutive nights between July 20 and July 23 after forcing her to share a bed with him in his bedroom.
The man allegedly threatened his daughter with death if she left the house or told anyone about the abuse.
The girl confided in her visiting grandmother who advised her to write her experiences in a book which they showed the victim’s mother on her return leading to the arrest of the abusive father
He was charged with three counts of indecent assault, one of aggravated indecent assault and another of rape after a medical report showed that the girl had been sexually violated.
He was not asked to plead to the charges when he appeared before Hwange magistrate Ms. Barbara Phiri who remanded him in custody to Thursday next week.
Prosecuting, Mr. John Chisango Mutyakaviri said the man threatened his daughter with death if she revealed the abuse.
“On 18 July at around 10 pm, the complainant was sitting on a sofa watching TV when her father told her that he wanted to check if she was still a virgin.
The complainant refused and told him to take her to her grandmother for virginity testing. The accused insisted that he had powers to check her daughter’s virginity,” said the prosecutor.
The man allegedly ordered the girl to remove her panties and pull her skirt upwards.
“The accused then knelt down in front of the complainant and pulled her legs apart. He inserted his forefinger and the middle finger into the girl’s privates telling her he was checking if she was still a virgin,” said the prosecutor.
The court was told that after removing his fingers, he ordered his daughter to lie on the sofa facing upwards before forcibly pulling her legs apart while threatening to kill her if she made noise.
The girl complied out of fear and he allegedly raped her once. During the forced sex, she complained to her father that he was hurting her.
After raping his daughter, the man allegedly ordered her to go and sleep.
Two days later he allegedly approached his daughter who was watching TV and ordered her to go and sleep on his bed.
The girl questioned why she should use his bedroom and he allegedly told her that he had his reasons which he however did not disclose.
The girl complied. Three hours later he joined her in bed and allegedly started caressing her while touching her privates before they both fell asleep, the court was told.
The man allegedly repeated his heinous act of caressing his daughter and touching her privates for three consecutive nights after forcing her to share the bed with him.
On July 23 in the morning, he allegedly ordered her not to leave the house or tell anyone about what had happened.
The girl however narrated her ordeal to her grandmother who visited on the same day. The grandmother gave the girl an exercise book and asked her to write down all her experiences.
The girl’s mother returned on July 29 and was told about the abuse. A report was then made to the police leading to the accused’s arrest.
#SAYNOTORAPE
