A 33-year-old Beitbridge man who impregnated a 16-year-old girl has pleaded not guilty to having sex with a minor, telling the court he met her in a bar. According to Masvingo Mirror, Alex Moyo from Dendele Village appeared before Beitbridge Magistrate Gillian Padzakashambwa on Friday, facing charges of having sexual intercourse with a minor. Prosecutor […]
A 33-year-old Beitbridge man who impregnated a 16-year-old girl has pleaded not guilty to having sex with a minor, telling the court he met her in a bar.
According to Masvingo Mirror, Alex Moyo from Dendele Village appeared before Beitbridge Magistrate Gillian Padzakashambwa on Friday, facing charges of having sexual intercourse with a minor.
Prosecutor Reason Mutimba told the court that Moyo met the girl in February 2026 and the two fell in love. They had sex several times, and she fell pregnant.
Moyo told the court he did not know she was underage because he met her in a bar and knew several of her former boyfriends. He, however, admitted responsibility for the pregnancy.
The matter came to light after the girl’s grandmother noticed the pregnancy and confronted her, and she told her what had happened.
The grandmother reported the matter to the police, leading to Moyo’s arrest.
Under Zimbabwean law, children under the age of 18 are not allowed into beerhalls and cannot consent to sexual intercourse.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Criminal Laws Amendment (Protection of Children and Young Persons) Act in 2024, making any sexual relations with someone under the age of 18 a criminal offence.
Under Zimbabwean law that is treated as statutory rape because a minor cannot legally give consent.
The law raised the age of consent from 16 to 18 to align with the Constitution, which defines a child as anyone under 18. Before that, a “young person” was defined as under 16, which left 16- and 17-year-olds unprotected.
Constitutional law expert Lovemore Madhuku explained after the law was signed that under-18s cannot consent to sex. That means consent cannot be used as a defence, even where the young person said they agreed.
There have, however, been complicated cases. In December 2025, a 24-year-old man from Bulawayo walked free from a serious rape charge after the 14-year-old complainant told the court she had lied about her age and had consented to the encounter. The court acquitted him following that admission.
