By Own Correspondent- A 41year old secondary school teacher from Guruve was last week convicted and fine $400 for indecently assaulting a Form 3 pupil in his office in a bid to rape her.

The teacher, whose name was withheld to protect the identity of the victim, was found guilty of indecent assault by Guruve resident magistrate, Shingirai Mutiro.

Prosecutor Spiwe Makarichi told the court that on June 6 last year, the teacher assigned the 15 year old pupil to sweep his office after school hours and subsequently followed her at around 4:30pm.

The teacher wrestled with her and told her that she was ripe for sex before fondling her.

He muffled her screams with his hand, but later released the teenager after his attempts failed.

The victim narrated her ordeal to her friend who heard the two wrestling in the office and was advised to tell the senior lady, who informed the headmaster before filing a police report, leading to the teacher’s arrest.-Newsday

In mitigation, the convict said he was looking after his parents, in-laws and family, hence a custodial sentence would be too harsh.

“Your Worship, may you be lenient with me, I am the breadwinner for my family, parents and my in-laws. May I be given a second chance to reform by a non-custodial sentence since a custodial sentence would throw me in the deep end of unemployment and many lives will suffer,” the teacher
lamented.