The unthinkable happened recently when a heartless
mother pledged and gave her 13 year old
daughter to a self proclaimed prophet as payment for spiritual services.
Munakandafa
Shoko (not her real name) faced the horror of her life when her mother (name
withheld to protect the victim) pledged her to Madzibaba Jefias Nyika of Mlauzi
village, Zimbabwe as payment for spiritual services provided to the family.
It is
alleged that Munakandafa’s family was being tormented by a tokoloshi spirit and
Madzibaba Jeremiah demanded a virgin daughter as payment to exorcise the
spirit.
The court
was told that, on the 13th of January this year the first accused person
(Munakandafa’s mother) and Madzibaba
Jefias had an agreement of pledging Munakandafa, the two agreed that
Munakandafa’s mother would bring her 13 year old daughter to Madzibaba Jefias
who would have sexual intercourse with the complainant and take her in as his
wife.
The
complainant under duress had unprotected sexual intercourse twice with
Madzibaba Jefias. During the heinous act, the complainant’s mother waited
outside as backup for Madzibaba. She waited outside so that if her 13 year old
child screams, she would act as an alibi and also convince the complainant to
keep quiet.
As fate
would have it, a heroic act by the complainant’s grandmother to report the
crime at Tongogara police Station led to the arrest of the two criminals.
ZimNews.net
reports that the two accomplices in crime appeared before Shurugwi Magistrate
facing charges of pledging a female person as defined in Section 94 (1) of the
Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23 and having sexual
intercourse with a young person as defined in Section 70 of the aforementioned
Act.
The two
accused persons are due for sentencing on a later date.
This
criminal case comes when the government and nongovernmental organisations are
working tirelessly to end early Child marriages as they are destroying the lives
of many children in Zimbabwe.
More often
than not, child brides are pulled out of school, depriving them of an education
and meaningful work.
They suffer
health risks associated with early sexual activity and childbearing, leading to
high rates of maternal and child mortality as well as sexually transmitted
infections, including HIV and they are more likely to be victims of domestic
violence, sexual abuse and social isolation

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