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Sukoluhle Ndlovu
A man from Mvuma has appeared in court charged with indecent assault after he fondled a woman while she breastfed her baby, before threatening to rape her if she tried stopping him.
The matter came to light when Shepard Tafirenyika (25) of Kwesi Village in Mvuma appeared before Mvuma resident magistrate Tafadzwa Mhlanga.
He pleaded not guilty but he was found guilty following a full trial.
In his mitigation, Tafirenyika told the court that on the day in question, he was drunk and as such he could not remember anything that transpired.
“Your Worship, on that particular day l was drunk so l don’t remember what transpired,” he said.
Magistrate Mhlanga slapped him with a 12-month jail sentence. Three months were suspended on condition of good behaviour.
The case against Tafirenyika was that on October 8, the complainant Natasha Mahufa (21) was seated on her doorstep with her two housemates Pamela Chimvemve and Evelynn Manyumbu.
Tafirenyika arrived and proceeded to Mahufa who was breast-feeding her baby while talking to Chimvemve and Manyumbu.
He then started caressing Mahufa’s thighs, threatening to rape her if she dared to stop him.
Mahufa’s housemates ran off and hid inside the house leaving Mahufa at Tafirenyika’s mercy.
Out of fear, the complainant complied. She then managed to escape, ran to her bedroom and locked herself inside.
Tafirenyika followed her to the house saying ndikakubata ndoda kukuk**ra meaning “If l manage to catch you, I will rape you”.
While inside her bedroom, Mahufa then called her friend Tinovonga Tongogara, who together with other men apprehended Tafirenyika and handed him to the police.
Mr Michael Kazomba prosecuted.
derick.khumalo