A Chimanimani teacher was on Monday slapped with a three-year sentence after being convicted for bedding a 15-year-old Grade Seven student.

Timothy Mundendevhunyi (47) of Bernwin, Mutare, was convicted on his own guilty plea when he appeared before Chipinge magistrate, Mrs Elizabeth Hanzi.

Prosecuting, Mrs Patience Matereke said sometime in January this year, Mandendevhunyi approached the complainant and invited her for lunch at his place.

“The complainant complied and Mandendevhunyi proposed love to her. He told her that he wanted her to become his second wife. He asked her to take some time thinking about the proposal,” she said.

Mrs Matereke said on another day, Mandendevhunyi saw the complainant fetching water at the school and lured her to his house again. “While they were at his house, he persuaded the complainant to be intimate with him. After the act, Mandendevhunyi told the juvenile not to divulge the issue to anyone. He gave her a packet of loose biscuits to buy her silence,” she said.

Mrs Matereke said the two became intimate on a number of occasions between January and October.

“The matter only came to light when the complainant’s younger sister alerted their mother about the complainant’s frequent visits to Mandendevhunyi’s house.

The complainant was interrogated by her mother and she revealed everything, thereby leading to the teacher’s arrest,” she said. In mitigation, Mandendevhunyi said he intended to marry the complainant as his second wife. Mrs Hanzi sentenced him to 36 months in prison.-Manica Post