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HARARE dealer Munyaradzi Chauraya, whose name went viral after he was accused of indecent assault of his step daughter, has been acquitted by the courts.
He was on Friday found not guilty in the matter in which he was facing indecent assault charges and producing pornographic content.
Chauraya was acquitted after a full trial by Harare magistrate Feresi Chakanyuka who ruled that the State failed to prove its case.
The magistrate said the child’s mother’s evidence was contradictory and corroborated Chauraya’s defence.
In his defence, Chauraya told the court that the charges were orchestrated by his now ex-wife, in a bid to blackmail him, after he terminated their relationship due to her infidelity.
Magistrate Chakanyuka said failure by the child’s mother to timeously make a report, as soon as she saw the video, showed that the report could have been concocted with malicious intent to tarnish Chauraya’s reputation.
She also said in considering the circumstantial evidence, she saw that it was true that the couple resided together during the time in question.
The child’s mother identified her bedroom in the video, but the forensic report dismissed the possibility that Chauraya took the video.
This is so because the forensic evidence from the cyber lab stated that the video emanated from the child’s mother’s cellphone and not from Chauraya’s phone.
On that basis, the court had no reason to convict him as there was a reasonable possibility that his defence was true.
The State led evidence from the child’s parents, her aunt and the investigating officer.
Tafara Chirambira prosecuted.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter