Online Reporter
Lesley Chikudo, [email protected]
A 58-year-old Bulawayo man is accused of raping and indecently assaulting a 16-year-old neighbour.
The man, from Old Lobengula suburb, whose name has been withheld to protect the victim’s identity,has pleaded not guilty before Western Commonage Regional Magistrate Mrs Sibongile Marondedze.
He was remanded out of custody to March 26 for judgement.
According to the state’s case, as presented by prosecutor Christina Manyika, from an unspecified date in 2023, the accused would invite the complainant to his house, purportedly to help him unload groceries from his vehicle. In return, he would give her US$1.
Manyika told the court that after paying her, the accused would also fondle the complainant’s breasts.
“This continued until January this year,” he said.
The court heard that on January 26, at about 4pm, the accused, as was his custom, called the complainant to his house to assist him in unloading groceries from his vehicle.
“The complainant came and helped him. Thereafter the accused grabbed the complainant, took her into his bedroom and closed the door.
“He then used sticky tape to close her mouth while forcibly holding her down,” said Manyika.
The accused then removed the complainant’s clothes and raped her once using protection.
After the rape he gave her R20 to buy her silence before threatening to harm her if she dared report the sexual assault to anyone.
The complainant’s aunt quizzed her after she noticed her unusual behaviour and she disclosed that she had been raped by the accused. A report was made to the police leading to the accused’s arrest.
Testifying in court, the complainant said that she would assist the accused whenever he returned from grocery shopping, and he would give her US$1 or R20.
“On the day in question, the accused sent me a message asking me to come and help him as usual.
“After we finished offloading the groceries, he dismissed the other children who were present. He then called me into his house and raped me once in his bedroom,” she said.
In his defence, the accused denied raping the complainant insisting he only paid her to assist him offload his groceries.
“On the day in question, I sent a message to the complainant, asking her to come to my house so I could give her the money she wanted. She had told me she needed money to buy airtime to check her O-level results. These rape allegations are just a fabrication,” he said.
