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Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
A 21-year-old man allegedly raped his 16-year-old sister on several occasions and when the victim reported the abuse to their mother, she swept the matter under the carpet, the court heard yesterday.
The pair’s mother chose to turn a blind eye despite the victim having been encouraged to engage her by their pastor and church elders, the State alleged.
The accused appeared before magistrate (edited) Ms Barbara Chimboza yesterday facing three counts of rape. He was remanded in custody to May 24 with instructions to apply for bail at the High Court.
Prosecuting, Mr Sebastian Mutizirwa alleged that on December 24 last year, at around 6pm the complainant was watching television in the sitting room when her brother came in. He inserted a pornographic disc into the DVD player and started watching it before fondling his sister’s breasts.
She resisted, but was overpowered by the accused who pushed her to the floor before raping her, the court heard. The following day, the complainant went to church and informed her pastor and a church elder about the sexual abuse. The pastor advised her to inform her mother of the rape, the court heard.
The victim, the court heard, reported the rape to their mother, but she kept quiet about the issue. It is further alleged that sometime this year, the accused got into his sister’s bedroom and crawled into her blankets while she was asleep, before raping her. The victim did not tell anyone about the abuse. The following week, the State alleged, the accused repeated the same offence.
After the rape, the victim bolted out of the house and rushed to her friend’s house in the neighbourhood. She informed her friend’s mother who then gave her a place to sleep for the night. The friend’s mother reported the matter to the police the following morning leading to the arrest of the accused.
Online Reporter