Online Reporter
A Bulawayo man who habitually indecently exposed himself to schoolgirls has been sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Maxwell Ndlovu appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Golden Muyambo facing five counts of indecent assault.
He, however, told the court that the girls had fabricated the allegations.
It was the State’s case that Ndlovu was in the habit of emerging from the bush to expose himself to girls who would be on their way to school.
In February, he reportedly unzipped his trousers and exposed his manhood to a 15-year-old girl, forcing the terrified teen to scream and run towards school.
The court heard that he repeated the same act the following month, this time shouting at the girl before exposing himself.
She screamed for help and ran to a nearby homestead for refuge.
On June 17, another girl was walking to school at around 8am when she encountered Ndlovu in a bushy area.
Wearing a mask, he emerged from the bush, ordered the girl to stop and exposed himself.
The girl ran away, screaming for help.
Another 14-year-old girl was similarly targeted on her way to school.
Using the same modus operandi, Ndlovu again emerged from the bush, ordered her to stop and exposed himself when she looked in his direction.
The frightened girl fled and sought refuge.
The court also heard that on June 18, another teenage girl was walking to school when Ndlovu emerged from the bush.
She immediately fled.
Though Ndlovu gave chase, he eventually gave up.
The girl managed to run to a nearby home to hide.
In a victim impact statement, one of the girls told the court that the incident continued to haunt her and that she was still struggling to erase the memory of what she had witnessed.
Due to overwhelming evidence, magistrate Muyambo convicted Ndlovu and slapped him with an effective one-year jail term. — Bulawayo Bureau
*****************
