A 23-year-old man from Guruve was refunded part of the lobola money by his in-laws after he discovered that the woman was already pregnant before they became intimate.
The man, King Gumbira, took his wife Memory Makomo for blood tests, soon after paying lobola, and learnt that she was already pregnant, reported H-Metro.
To compound his grief, Gumbira learned that his wife’s uncle, Jaifi Kafarawo, who is in his 30s, was reported to be the one responsible for the pregnancy.
Kafarawo allegedly abandoned his family, took Memory and left Guruve for Mt Darwin, after their incestuous affair was revealed.
Gumbira told H-Metro that his in-laws refunded part of his lobola after Memory revealed her adulterous relationship with her uncle. He said:
I am yet to recover from the pain that I suffered. If I had bedded her before paying lobola, I could have been given a pregnant wife.
She never disclosed to me that she was dating another man besides disclosing that she was once raped by one of her sister’s husbands.
Her parents accepted my lobola and Memory disappeared from home soon after lobola.
She went to Mt Darwin during the night with her uncle and they were tracked until Memory was forced back home.
After she disclosed about the one who was responsible for her pregnancy, the family refunded part of my money.
Refunding of lobola is not enough considering the pain I suffered, the time I wasted as well as the trust I had given to Memory.
Memory is said to be 15-years-old and Gumbira claims she said she is 17. This means Gumbira, the girl’s uncle and her parents violated the law.
In Zimbabwe, having sexual intercourse with a young person is a criminal act after President Emmerson Mnangagwa invoked the Presidential Powers Act to amend the Criminal Law Code to reinstate the age of consent to eighteen (18) years in January this year.
The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. It is the minimum age at which a person is considered old enough to be able to legally agree to sexual activity.
Statutory Instrument 2 of 2024 (Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Criminal Laws (Protection of Children and Young Persons) Regulations, 2024) criminalised having sexual intercourse with anyone below the age of 18.
Furthermore, under Zimbabwe’s new Marriage Act, all marriages are entered into between men and women above 18 years of age. Facilitating marriage of children under 18 years is now considered a criminal offence.
The minimum age of marriage for both girls and boys is 18 years. It is a substantial crime to marry off a child, and anyone involved in such actions will be prosecuted.
Last week, a 26-year-old man from Mutare was sentenced to 20 months in jail following his conviction for having sexual intercourse with a young person.
In terms of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act) Act [Chapter 9:23], a “Young person” means a boy or girl under the age of eighteen years.
The man started indulging in sexual activities with the 14-year-old complainant in February 2024 at his homestead and thereafter had sexual relations with the complainant on different occasions.
The matter came to light when the girl suspected that she was pregnant and eloped to the accused person’s home.
The girl’s mother reported the matter to the Police leading to the man’s arrest.
The man was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment of which 4 months was suspended. He will serve 20 months effectively
