in jail.
Zvidzai Rwodzi, an employee of J and T Bottle Store in Southerton, Harare, was being charged with aggravated indecent assault after he lured a 26-year-old dancer into his office to sign a dancing contract with his group before sodomising him. Of the 15 years, regional magistrate Mr William Bhila, suspended three years on condition of good behaviour.
In passing the sentence, Mr Bhila said Rwodzi had committed a very serious offence hence a message had to be sent to would-be offenders.
“The court was impressed by the evidence of the complainant. These are rare crimes and when perpetrators come before the courts, they should be punished.
“The complainant could not scream because he knew that accused would stab him with the knife he was holding. Cases of this nature are very serious and the possibility of transmission with the dreadful virus (HIV) is very high,” he said.
Mr Bhila further said the sentence should show the gravity of the offence.
Rwodzi was left with an effective 12-year jail term.
Prosecutor Mr Zivanai Makwanya, said the dancer was on September 4 this year at around 7pm, having a drink at Southerton Shopping Centre when he met Rwodzi.
The man told Rwodzi that he had a group of dancers who were willing to entertain his customers.
Rwodzi agreed to put the agreement into writing.
The pair went into the bottle store where he produced a knife, pointed it at the dancer and ordered him to remove his trousers.
Rwodzi started sodomising the dancer but the man begged him to stop and asked for permission to go and buy condoms. Rwodzi allowed him resulting in the dancer escaping and proceeding to ZRP Southerton to report the case.
On September 5, the dancer was referred to Harare Central Hospital for examination and a medical report obtained was produced in court as an exhibit.



