ZIMBABWE – A 47-year-old man from Bulawayo’s Montrose suburb in Zimbabwe has been arrested for allegedly sexually abusing his daughter over a 10-year period.

The man who cannot be named to protect the identify of his daughter allegedly started abusing the child when she was eight years old. He was arrested last Thursday.

The victim is now 18 years old.

Bulawayo acting police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube yesterday said the man started abusing his daughter when she was in Grade Two sometime in 2009.

“We have arrested a 47-year-old man from Montrose suburb in Bulawayo for allegedly sexually abusing his daughter for 10 years. The suspect started violating the child when she was in Grade Two in 2009. The suspect would demand that the minor does sexual acts on him whenever she asked for pocket money.

“He would allegedly take the child to a secluded place in their home and abuse the minor. The abuse started with indecent assault incidents where he would ask the child to suck his nipples while touching her private parts, among other things. The process occurred for countless times,” said Insp Ncube.

He said as the child grew older, her father started raping her.

“When the daughter was in Form Two, he started to rape her. The rape started when the mother was away; he entered her daughter’s bedroom and forced himself on her.

“This continued on several occasions since 2015 until sometime in 2019 when his daughter decided to tell her boyfriend about it. The boyfriend advised her to tell her mother.

“After her mother was told about the sexual abuse, she told her pastor who encouraged her to report the matter to the police,” he said.

Insp Ncube said the suspect was arrested on Thursday and is assisting cops with investigations.

“This is really a painful case. It does not make sense that a child was sexually abused for 10 years without anyone paying attention to her. What makes the situation even worse is that she was abused by her father who we expect should have been in the forefront of protecting his daughter.

“It’s even difficult to say that mothers should not leave their children with their fathers. But we also want to reiterate that every man is a potential rapist and females should always be on the guard in their presence,” said Insp Ncube.

He said when people are sexually violated they should promptly report the abuse so that they receive medical treatment.