Grade 6 pupil falls pregnant, embroiled in polygamy

This comes at a time when Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world in commemoration of Sixteen days of Activism against gender-based violence and child abuse.

The development, which has become the talk of the moment in the farming community, has not gone down well with local Church leaders and residents who castigated the girl’s parents for marrying off their young daughter to a 36 year old married man (name withheld).

According to a relative, the Grade 6 pupil, who is now over five months pregnant, used to receive packets of sweets and Jiggles (snacks) and was picked up from school by the alleged culprit, whose identity has been withheld pending investigations.

The girl’s relative who stays at a farming plot near the victim’s family informed this publication that although the girl’s parents connived with the abusive ‘son- in-law’ she and other relatives were completely against the marriage of convenience.

“The issue is painful and disgusting at the same time, how can normal parents support such a bizarre act and become against any action taken against the culprit? There is nothing we can do because the parents had already agreed and arranged a marriage,” said the worried relative who asked for anonymity.

Dixon Mhande informed this journalist that cases of early marriage are widespread in Somabhula area. He was quick to implicate yet a 25 year old married man in the same area whom he said impregnated a 15 year form 1 Somabhula Secondary School pupil.

“The second accused man is the victim’s elder sister’s husband. After having realised the juvenile had become pregnant the perpetrator and her wife resolved marry the grade 6 child as a second wife,” he said.

A National Railways of Zimbabwe official yesterday urged the police to quickly act on the matter arguing the child’s future had been destroyed and that the perpetrator should be brought to book.

“The issue of child abuse is a cause for concern. I also have young children learning at the primary school whom I am afraid will also fall victim. As locals we condemn this act in strongest terms. We are calling on the law enforcement agents to be stringent with perpetrators of such offences,” he said, adding that if the matter was reported to the police people would desist from a culture of out-of-court settlement in cases where children would have been abused.

Contacted for comment the Deputy Provincial Education Director, Reuben Arthur Mabhena, professed ignorance over the matter. “I am not aware of that incident if it happened at all and I am hearing it from you media people for the first time. I hope you will find out the truth about the matter and inform us,” Mabhena said.

Zimbabwe has one of the highest child marriage rates in the world. According to UNICEF’s State of the World’s Report (2015), the prevalence of child marriage is highest in Mashonaland Central with 50%.

In second place is Mashonaland West at 42%, Masvingo (39%), Mashonaland East (36%), Midlands (31%), Manicaland (30%), Matabeleland North (27%), Harare (19%), and Matabeleland South (18%), while Bulawayo has the lowest prevalence rate of about 10%.