An HIV positive prostitute from Masvingo's Mucheke suburb, who infected a six-year-old boy with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) after forcing him to have sex with her, was yesterday sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Mercy Muchemwa, 58, a close friend to the boy's mother would, on numerous occasions, force the victim to have sex with her and also lick her private parts, saying she liked the little boy's "energy."
Muchemwa pleaded not guilty to aggravated indecent assault but Masvingo senior regional magistrate, Judith Zuyu, convicted her due to overwhelming evidence.
In handing down sentence, Zuyu said Muchemwa deserved a deterrent sentence which would send a clear message to other would-be offenders.
She said Muchemwa took advantage of her friendship with the victim's mother to abuse an innocent boy.
The magistrate also had no kind words for the boy's mother who kept the abuse under wraps even after the boy had confided in her.
"At your age you're expected to play a grandmother's role to the complainant but you unashamedly abused the friendship that existed between you and the boy's mother.
"You deserve a deterrent sentence because what you did to the boy is cruel. If you were sexually starved and wanted to quench your sexual desire, you could have approached older men not to teach a small boy about sex. Cases of child sexual abuse have become a nuisance to society and perpetrators of such vices should not be treated with kid gloves," said Zuyu.
The magistrate said it was Muchemwa's duty to protect the boy who frequented her house as he normally played with her grandchildren that she lived with.
"You also had a duty to protect the complainant in the same manner you did to your grandchildren you mentioned in mitigation. You, however, chose to take him for a husband. You exposed him to the risk of contracting HIV/Aids as there is no proof that you used protection," said Zuyu.
In mitigation, Muchemwa had told the court that the matter was a fabricated story from the boy's father who held her responsible for his divorce from the victim's mother.
The court heard how Muchemwa would on countless occasions suck the boy's male organ before forcing him to lick her private parts. They would later have sex.
She would refer to the minor, who had become "hooked" to the sordid acts, as her husband. The victim's playmates knew of the improper "union", the court heard.
Prosecuting, Moreblessing Rusere said sometime in December last year while living in Mucheke suburb next door to the complainant's mother, Muchemwa would call the boy, who played with her grandchildren, and sexually abuse him.
Muchemwa would buy the boy's silence with cash ranging from $1 to $2 each time she abused him. The matter came to light in June this year when the boy fell sick while at his rural home in Chirumanzi where he now lived with his aunt.
After being taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with an STD, he opened up to his aunt about the abuse.
"The boy's mother has since migrated to South Africa following a dispute with her husband. She was a close friend to the accused. In December, 2014, Muchemwa would take the boy, who usually came to her house to play with other children, and have sex with him," said Rusere.
The prosecutor said the "sex encounters" continued unabated without anyone making an effort to stop them despite the mother of the victim having been told about the abuse.
"The boy is said to have told her mother about the abuse but she seemed not to care much. Instead she is said to have told the boy not to report the matter to anyone. On December 1, 2014, one of Muchemwa's grandchildren caught the accused red handed being intimate with the boy behind a curtain that divided their room. The boy was on top of Muchemwa," Rusere said.
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