A BULAWAYO man allegedly raped his daughter, 15, and told her it was his family’s cultural practice for a father to sleep with his first born child.
The man, 36, who cannot be named for ethical reasons, was sleeping with the girl in the same bed when he allegedly committed the offence. He appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Sibongile Msipa-Marondedze charged with rape.
He pleaded not guilty and was remanded in custody to July 7.
Prosecuting, Mufaro Mageza said sometime in 2014, the girl left her mother’s house and went to her father’s in Nketa Suburb.
The girl’s parents are on separation.
On the following day, said Mageza, the girl and her father shared a bed.
“He slept with his hands around his daughter’s waist the whole night,” said the prosecutor.
The court heard that on the third day while the girl was sleeping, the man came home drunk and got into the bedroom where the girl was sleeping.
“The man got into the blankets and forcibly removed the girl’s clothes,” said Mageza.
The girl tried to resist but failed as her father overpowered her and lay on top of her before engaging in sex with her once.
“After committing the offence the man told the girl that it was their culture to have sex with her because she is the first born,” said Mageza.
He told the court that during the same week the man took his daughter back to her mother in Emakhandeni suburb.
“On May 25, while staying with her mother, the girl went home late and her mother assaulted her until she revealed that she had problems,” said Mageza.
Mageza said the girl narrated the ordeal to her mother who reported the matter to the police, leading to her ex-husband’s arrest.