BULAWAYO — A kombi driver who sexually abused his ex-girlfriend’s 14-year-old sister has been sentenced to three years in prison after his crime was exposed through a bizarre chain of events triggered by the teenager kidnapping a two-year-old baby.
Godwell Mumba, 36, pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse with a minor before Bulawayo provincial magistrate Themba Chimiso on Monday.
Mumba told the court he had previously been in a relationship with the victim’s older sister and had since “fallen in love” with the younger girl.
He claimed he believed she was old enough to consent because she had told him she was already a mother.
Magistrate Chimiso was unmoved. He said Mumba’s prior relationship with the family placed him in a position of trust, one he had exploited rather than honoured.
“Since you were in love with her sister, you were in a position of trust and you were supposed to protect the child, but instead you sexually violated her,” Chimiso said.
The magistrate described Mumba as a sexual predator who had groomed the girl over an extended period from January this year until last week, warning that the ordeal would leave lasting scars on the victim.
“It is the duty of the court to protect the girl child from sexual predators like you,” he said.
Prosecutor Samuel Mpofu noted that Mumba was double the teenager’s age and had full knowledge that she was below the age of consent. He successfully argued for a custodial sentence.
Pleading for leniency, Mumba said he was married with a nine-year-old child and was his family’s sole breadwinner. The court was not persuaded.
Mumba’s abuse may never have come to light had it not been for an unusual sequence of events. On February 17, the teenager – a Form One pupil living with her mother in Rangemore – allegedly abducted a two-year-old child from Meikles Market in the city centre.
She took the baby to Mumba’s home in Trenance, presenting the child as her own. The two stayed there for two days.
On February 19, the teenager attempted to leave the baby with a stranger at a block of flats in the city, telling the man that the child’s father would come to collect her. The man grew suspicious, recognised the baby as the child reported missing and alerted authorities.
In a police interview, the teen revealed that Mumba was her “boyfriend.” He was arrested in Plumtree.
The teenager has since been charged with kidnapping. She was released on bail into the custody of her mother.
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