21-year-old A'Level Student Rapes Form 1 Learner
Bulawayo – A 21-year-old Advanced Level student at Binga High School has failed in his appeal against conviction and sentence for the rape of a 13-year-old Form 1 learner in a school classroom.
The High Court judges hearing the appeal have instead criticised the school’s administration and deemed the original sentence lenient.
Justices Munamato Mutevedzi and Naison Chivayo, presiding over the case, expressed their concern that a 21-year-old man was even attending a secondary school, labelling the case a prime example of the dangers of allowing adults to mingle as “peers” with children.
The judges stated that the school administrators were negligent and culpable for the horror that the 13-year-old girl went through because they let a mature man ravage her.
Land Sinclair Kabome was arrested following the allegations, despite boasting that he was untouchable because of his father’s alleged influence.
The court heard that Kabome raped the juvenile twice on March 8, 2023.
According to court records, Kabome had initially proposed love to the complainant, who turned him down.
After the assembly dispersed at around 1pm, the girl headed to the classroom to collect her bag, where Kabome accosted her.
21-year-old A'Level Student Rapes Form 1 Learner
He again proposed love, which she rejected. Kabome then grabbed her and fondled her breasts.
Kabome reportedly took the complainant’s bag to his classroom and threw it into a corner.
When the complainant followed and attempted to retrieve her bag, he grabbed her, undressed her, and, after she tried to resist, pulled out a knife and threatened to stab her before raping her twice.
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The complainant tried to report the rape to the school matron, Brenda Siyaswekwa, but was told that she would be attended to in the evening.
Another attempt by the girl to report the matter to the matron the next morning also failed.
She then confided in a day scholar friend, requesting that she bring her phone to school the following day so she could call her mother.
Before the friend could bring the phone, she sent a message to the complainant’s mother advising her of the issue.
On May 10, 2023, the girl finally contacted her mother, who was in Hwange, and informed her of the ordeal.
The mother immediately travelled to the school and confronted the authorities about the rape.
