Good for her
Newsday today reports that:
A ten-year-old Harare schoolgirl made good use of technology – video recording a rapist related to her as he attempted to rape her.
The girls uncle first raped her two years ago, then made another attempt three months later. But this time the girl recorded him as he uttered sexually explicit words.
The article goes on:
Regional magistrate Simon Rogers Kachambwa said the girl had struck the court as a credible witness who volunteered to spill the beans and told her mother what ordeal she went through.
“She did not tell her mother when you (Chikwanda) fondled her, even later on another day when you had sexual intercourse with her,” Kachambwa said.
“She felt it was too much when you asked her to do it again and she decided to record you on her phone as you spoke. “It was very fortunate that she did not like what you had earlier done to her and you did not know that you were dealing with an exceptionally intelligent niece.”
The last remarks by the magistrate are worrying. If she had liked it then what? Would he have walked free to do it again? Or would her family then have married her to her uncle?
My understanding is that sexual intercourse with a minor, whether they like it or not is a crime that is subject to imprisonment. The jail term of nine years the perpetrator received from the magistrate is disappointing.
Regardless, I say good for her.