Zimbabwe: Man charged with rape after 15-year-old victim dies giving birth
Zimbabwe Police have charged a 26-year-old man of rape after a 15-year-old girl died while giving birth at a church shrine last month.
According to local media reports, the minor girl was buried last month at a church shrine in the eastern region of Marange. Her death sparked outrage among citizens and activists in Zimbabwe.
The girl’s parents are also accused of lying about her age and pledging their daughter to the same man, Hatirarami Momberume.
The girl’s parents have also been charged with obstructing justice and falsifying identification documents to conceal their daughter’s age.
Police spokesperson Paul Nyathi confirmed that Anna died on 15 July and was subsequently buried at the shrine.
“Investigations are in progress with a view of unravelling all the facts in this case,” The Guardian quoted a police statement as saying.
An online campaign is also trending on Twitter in Zimbabwe, and a petition to stop child marriage has received more than 92,000 signatures so far, reports the Guardian.
According to Amnesty International, afifth of maternal deaths in Zimbabwe occur among girls aged 15 to 19.
Even though Zimbabwe’s constitutional court bans marriage under the age of 18, the UN in a report stated that one in three girls are still likely to be married before reaching that age.