Female rapists back in court, request trial date

court on routine remand.
Through their lawyers, the women requested the court to furnish them with a trial date. Sisters Sophie (26) and Netsai Nhokwara (24), Rosemary Chakwizira (28) and their male counterpart Thulani Ngwenya (24) are on US$300 bail each.
Their lawyers, Mr Dumisani Mthombeni, Mr Charles Nyika and Mr Frank Hwenhira said they were confident that after trial their clients will be acquitted. The lawyers said they will sue for defamation and damages against those responsible.
Initially, the defence team, had on Friday last week served the Attorney General’s Office with their notice to challenge the placement of their clients on remand or alternatively refusal of further remand in the event the first one fails.
However, yesterday the lawyers told magistrate Mr Kudakwashe Jarabini they were now deferring the application to a later date arguing that it will not serve their client’s interests.
The lawyers insisted their clients were innocent and were eagerly waiting for their trial to prove their innocence. Mr Mthombeni said the suspects should be tried as soon as possible.
“We are sure that the State is comfortable having the accused persons continuously remanded until a time when the court would decide to remove them from remand for failure by the State to prosecute them,” said Mr Mthombeni.
“We anticipate that if we get to that situation, the State will never bring them back to court by way of summons because the State knows they have no case to answer. Their plight will die a natural death and the truth will never be allowed to come out.
“The accused persons are demanding for their trial date so that they can answer to the charges and protest their innocence in the courts of law. They want the case to be dealt with on the merits because they are confident they would be found not guilty and acquitted,” he said.
Mr Hwenhira and Mr Nyika concurred with Mr Mthombeni adding that the docket should have been completed if complainants positively identified their clients.
However, prosecutor Ms Molyn Mutamangira-Mavhondo told the court that the State needed time to prepare its submissions.
Mr Jarabini postponed the matter to today to allow the State to respond. The four are facing 17 counts of aggravated indecent assault which arise from forcing men they would have offered lifts in their cars to be intimate with them.