adminThandeka Moyo Court Reporter
AN employee at Ingutsheni Central Hospital in Bulawayo has been acquitted after a court found him not guilty of raping a mental patient. Gladwell Sibanda was discharged at the close of the State case when regional magistrate Chrispen Mberewere accepted his lawyer’s application for discharge. Sibanda had been charged with raping a 19-year-old psychiatric patient after inserting his fingers into the girl’s privates last year in August.
He was facing two counts of rape and aggravated indecent assault.
“After considering evidence led so far, it’s clear that the State case against Sibanda is weak. At the end of the State case, he is found not guilty in respect of both counts,” said magistrate Mberewere.
Prosecuting, Trust Muduma alleged that sometime in August last year, the girl, who was admitted at the health institution, met Sibanda as she was walking towards the hospital’s wards.
“Sibanda then grabbed the girl by the waist and asked her to follow him to a bushy area near the hospital. The two headed to the bush and entered an incomplete hospital structure and Sibanda asked the girl to move closer saying he wanted something from her panties,” said Muduma.
The court heard that Sibanda raped the girl once using a condom. “Sibanda also approached the girl during the same month and made conversation. He then fondled the girl’s breasts and inserted his fingers into her privates. The girl made a report leading to Sibanda’s arrest,” said Muduna.
Online Reporter