A MPOPOMA couple, who happen to be cousins, were last week charged for being in a prohibited degree of relationship after being accused of incest. PRESTIGE GAMA OWN CORRESPONDENT
Benedict Daka and his cousin Michelle Daka appeared before the Western Commonage magistrate Tancy Dube, where they pleaded guilty to incest.
Benedict was slapped with 15 months imprisonment, but he will serve nine months after six months were suspended on condition that for the next five years, he does not commit a similar offence.
Michelle was sentenced to a 15-month prison term with six months being suspended on condition that she does not engage in a prohibited relationship. The remainder of her term was suspended on condition that she performs 315 hours of community service at Western Commonage Police Station.
In their defence, the couple mentioned that they were so much in love with each other and could not stay apart.
“I admit what we did was wrong, but Michelle and I are so much in love and no one will ever understand,” Benedict said.
Prosecutor Kenneth Shava told the court that Benedict approached his cousin, whom he stayed with in 2012 and proposed love to her.
She accepted the love proposal and soon Michelle was expecting their first child.
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Michelle’s mother, Sibonisiwe Nyoni, said she realised that there was something amiss and set out to investigate.
“I noticed something was wrong between the two and forcefully demanded they tell me the truth. That is when they admitted that they were in a relationship, but it was rather too late because Michelle was already pregnant,” she told the court.
In her witness statement, she told the court that after this episode, she moved Michelle from where she lived with Benedict, but he convinced her to return and live with him.
According to the State’s outline, the cousins stayed together and were expecting their second child as Michelle is six months pregnant.
