Staff Reporter

A Gokwe rapist has been sentenced to 90 years imprisonment for violating his three employers juvenile girls in his room on different occasions.

The suspect Markwell Machena (18) of Village Machena, under Chief Nemangwe in Gokwe South was employed as a domestic worker by the mother of the children. She had three daughters, two aged 6 and one aged 7 years, respectively.

He appeared in court on 1 April 2025 where he was tried and convicted, for six counts of rape.

Machena was sentenced by Gokwe Magistrate Stanley Mbanje to a cumulative 90years but will spend an effective 45 years for six counts of rape.

During a period extending from 28 to 30 March 2025, Machena would lure the girls with snacks into his bedroom. While inside his room he would tie their legs and hands with ropes and rape them one after the other.

The matter came to light after the girls’ mother found them naked in the tee’s room and they revealed that they had been raped. She had seen the suspect a few minutes earlier, leaving the room.  The matter was reported to the police and the suspect was arrested.