adminPlaxcedes Hove Court Reporter
A MENTALLY challenged man from Gwabalanda in Bulawayo allegedly raped a Grade Five pupil on her way from church.
The girl is a pupil at Fusi Primary School.Edward Garikai Musekiwa, 29, appeared before Western Commonage provincial magistrate Willard Maphios Moyo facing rape charges.
He was not asked to plead and was remanded in custody to December 15 under the Mental Health Act.
Prosecuting, Kingstone Mkanganwi said Musekiwa raped the girl with help from six accomplices.
“Musekiwa raped the girl after his six friends dragged her and left her in his arms. He had sexual intercourse with the girl and spent the whole night with her,” he said.
The court heard that on November 12 in Gwabalanda at around 7PM, the girl left her house for church with her younger sisters. She then returned home alone to collect jerseys for her sisters since it was cold.
She went back to church only to find that the congregation had dismissed.
She then decided to go back home and on her way she met a gang of seven boys. They grabbed her and dragged her to a nearby house and left her in the hands of Musekiwa.
Musekiwa started fondling the girl’s breasts and stripped her naked before he raped her.
The girl spent the whole night at the house since it was dark and she was scared to go home alone.
The following day she ran away and left Musekiwa alone sleeping. The girl narrated her ordeal to her mother who later reported the matter to the police leading to Musekiwa’s arrest.
He was not asked to plead but told the court that he didn’t rape the girl.
“I don’t know this crime that these people say I committed. I never raped this girl. Please remand me out of custody so that I may go home and figure out what they’re accusing me of,” he said.
Online Reporter