A 32-year-old man from Doma in Mhangura constituency was arrested on October 13 and appeared before Chinhoyi magistrate on murder charges.

The man is said to have assaulted his 2 -year-old stepdaughter to death and is also facing two other charges of rape and domestic violence.

According to a local publication, Norest Svosva of plot 12, Tsvanzwa Farm, Doma appeared before Chinhoyi regional magistrate, Mr Tapiwa Banda on the 17th of October. Norest was remanded in custody and was advised to apply for bail at the High Court.

Svova, on August 30 this year,  brutally assaulted his stepdaughter after the 2-year-old toddler soiled herself.  Svova assaulted her all over the body leading to her death.

Mr Tendai Tapi, Prosecutor told the court that, the accused then dug a shallow grave along the Hunyani river, and sadly the mother of the child was present at the scene as this was the same place where they were panning for gold.

Svova, however, is said to have silenced his wife Elizabeth Dinhidza (24), but she later revealed the issue after a domestic dispute.  On the 13th of October, he was arrested by Mhangura Police.

On the count of rape the local publication reports that Svova, on July 18, accused a woman of trespassing on his farm on her way from Doma Shopping Centre before assaulting her several times all over her body with a stick.

The court heard that Svova then forcibly removed the complainant’s undergarments before he raped her once. The complainant reported the matter to her husband, who then took her to the police to report the matter on July 19.