Zimbabwe Still Sending Consenting Adults to Prison

Even though marriages between first cousins are legal (and common) in much of the word (including being legal in many US states) and always have been, the authorities in Zimbabwe think it is a great use of government resources to prosecute and imprison cousins for the "crime" of loving each other. Here's a report from southereye.co.zw...

Benedict Daka and his cousin Michelle Daka appeared before the Western Commonage magistrate Tancy Dube, where they pleaded guilty to incest.

Benedict was slapped with 15 months imprisonment, but he will serve nine months after six months were suspended on condition that for the next five years, he does not commit a similar offence.

Michelle was sentenced to a 15-month prison term with six months being suspended on condition that she does not engage in a prohibited relationship. The remainder of her term was suspended on condition that she performs 315 hours of community service at Western Commonage Police Station.

And who is the victim of their "crime?" Oh, that's right. There is no victim.

In their defence, the couple mentioned that they were so much in love with each other and could not stay apart.

They shouldn't have to.

Prosecutor Kenneth Shava told the court that Benedict approached his cousin, whom he stayed with in 2012 and proposed love to her.

She accepted the love proposal and soon Michelle was expecting their first child.

Michelle’s mother, Sibonisiwe Nyoni, said she realised that there was something amiss and set out to investigate.

So Sibonisiwe is the rat. Too bad she didn't read this. She should be more like this person.

They couple is now expecting their second child. You can assume nothing is wrong with the first child, or that would have been mentioned in the article.

There is no good reason to drag them into the courts and prison. They should be free to marry, if that is what they want, and protected against haters.