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A CHINESE man has been cleared of indecent assault after allegedly slapping and grabbing a female workmate’s buttocks.
Zhou Zhengling, 26, of Halifax Road in Gweru’s Heavy Industry Site, was acquitted after a magistrate ruled that his accuser, Concilia Ashley Zvamano, 20, waited too long to file a police report.
Gweru magistrate Sithembiso Ncube ruled: “It’s not a coincidence that Zvamano reported the case at a time when she was facing dismissal. The fact that she waited two months to make a report, only after she eventually got fired, weighs the scales heavily against her favour.”
Prosecutors had claimed that Zvamano, of Mkoba 11, was in the control room of a chrome melting plant where they work when Zhengling, an engineer, slapped and fondled her buttocks twice before proceeding to greet her.
Zhengling denied the charges. He told court that he had found Zvamano fooling around on her phone and had threatened to report her to her supervisor.
Zhengling told the court that Zvamano was probably afraid that she would lose her job as she was already on her second warning.
He said she fabricated the story of sexual harassment to safeguard her job and maliciously tarnish his reputation.
Bernard Nyoni appeared for the state.
Online Reporter