adminThandeka Moyo Court Reporter
A BOYFRIEND to a 26-year-old Bulawayo woman exposed her suspected rapist uncle after discovering she was not a virgin when they first had sex. The boyfriend blew the whistle to the woman’s family, which did nothing about the matter until last month, eight years later, when she opened up after listening to a sexual abuse programme on radio.
It is suspected that Stanley Mhembere, 44, an ex-policeman reportedly turned his late brother’s daughter into a sex slave after promising to pay her school fees.
Mhembere from Bulawayo’s Khumalo suburb appeared in court on Tuesday charged with five counts of raping his niece.
Prosecutors say Mhembere took over custody of the girl from her widowed sister-in-law in Gweru saying he wanted to pay for her school fees as she had passed her Grade Seven.
“The accused asked to live with the girl after she collected her Grade Seven results in 2000. He secured a place for her and paid for her fees for the first term. The girl was chased from school for failing to pay fees for term two and she went back home, only to find his uncle alone. The uncle promised to pay her fees if she kept a secret and later raped her before paying fees and buying her a winter uniform,” said Caroline Matanga prosecuting.
Two months later, Mhembere’s wife and daughter went shopping leaving him with his niece and he raped her again, the court heard.
The girl opened up and said she was unhappy with his actions but Mhembere took a pistol from his bedroom and threatened to kill her if she revealed the matter to anyone.
The court heard how Mhembere was exposed when his niece’s boyfriend questioned why she was not a virgin when they had sex and she narrated how she was abused.
After her narration, the boyfriend broke up with her for some time and later reconciled and the girl fell preganant. Mhembere’s family was notified of the matter and after discussing the issue they resolved to do nothing about it.
The woman decided to report her uncle to the police after listening to a local radio programme leading to his arrest.
Magistrate Sibongile Msipa remanded Mhembere in custody to April 1 and dismissed bail application filed by his laywer Kucaca Phulu.
Online Reporter