
Danisa Masuku
A foreign national who runs shops in Bulawayo allegedly raped his maid who suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Mild Intellectual Disability on several occasions causing her to fall pregnant.
The 57-year-old suspect who lives in Kumalo suburb in the city is set to appear before a Bulawayo regional magistrate for allegedly raping a 27-year-old helper who cannot be named for professional reasons before he terminated her employment contract.
Sources said the trial was supposed to kick off in June but it had to be delayed after the state applied for a psychiatric examination of the alleged victim. According to the doctor’s report, the victim was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Mild Intellectual Disability. The report also noted that the victim cannot give consent to sex.
The businessman’s son was also accused of raping the victim but has since been acquitted by the court. A source close to the case said at an undisclosed period, at first the businessman (name withheld to protect the identity of the victim) entered her bedroom which was not locked and allegedly sexually attacked her.
After that, he would every week sneak into her bedroom during the night and allegedly rape her. It is said at times he would come home during the day and reportedly call her to his bedroom and sexually attack her. The alleged victim could not resist or scream as he threatened to terminate her employment contract.
“When he discovered that she was pregnant he terminated her employment contract. She returned to her home and later gave birth,” said the source.
After giving birth, the uncle of the victim engaged the businessman to pay maintenance but he refused and denied that he impregnated her. After that, the family had to apply for an order to do a Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test.
“The probability of paternity to the child is 99.9 percent to the businessman, which confirms he fathered the child,” said the source.
The businessman allegedly paid maintenance for the upkeep of the child and defaulted along the way.
“He was hauled before Bulawayo magistrate Nomagugu Maphosa for defaulting in paying maintenance,” said the source.
The court case was put aside after he said he could not understand or speak English fluently. He was advised to look for an interpreter to translate his spoken language into English.
A victim’s relative said after the initial court appearance, the businessman resumed paying the maintenance.
“Now he is paying US$60 per month towards the child’s upkeep. But the money is not enough because there are a lot of basic needs for the upkeep of the child. We will apply for a review upwards,” said the family member.
Reached for a comment, the businessman said: “I never raped her. Those people want to extort money from me.”
Even though the businessman’s son, who also runs a shop in the city was recently acquitted of raping the victim, the family is not happy about the court outcome.
“We are not happy about the decision which was arrived at by the courts to acquit him because he also sexually attacked her, because she cannot consent to sex because of her condition. We are going to engage a lawyer to appeal,” said the uncle of the victim.