A former prison warder has lost a High Court appeal against a 45-year sentence for allegedly raping three minor children.
Misheck Musarurwa, who is serving 35 years after 10 years were suspended, approached the High Court seeking bail pending appeal against both conviction and sentence.
He was convicted together with Kundai Zvenyika and Tinashe Bonda for sexually assaulting three children aged below 12.
In convicting the three, regional magistrate Fadzai Mthombeni considered that medical examination established that there were many aggravating factors.
The court heard that between 2022 and 2024 the three took turns to rape the children, who are related, on different occasions.
Mthombeni ruled that all the children were below 12 years, and the accused persons took advantage of them.
In his application, Musarurwa argued that the regional court erred in convicting him.
He argued that the State failed to prove its case.
- Fresh land invasions hit Whitecliff
- Pomona cash row escalates
- Border Timbers targets European markets
- SA name strong A side for Zim tour
Keep Reading
Musarurwa also argued that the testimony by the witnesses was manifestly unreliable and also that the sentence imposed on him induced a sense of shock.
High Court judge, Justice Neville Wamambo dismissed his application for lack of merit.
“For raping minors under 12 years old over a considerable period of time in the sordid and brutal manner described by the victims the sentence is within the confines of precedent,” the judge ruled.
“In the circumstances I find that there are no prospects of success on an appeal against sentence.”
The judge said the convict might skip the borders fearing conviction.
“Likelihood of abscondment is heightened by the lengthy prison terms,” the judge said.
“There might be no motivation to turn up for a lengthy term of imprisonment to be potentially confirmed on appeal.
“Such confirmation is likely in the circumstances of the gravity of the offences and the young and vulnerable victims it was perpetrated upon.”
