Online Reporter
Prosper Dembedza
Herald Correspondent
A Harare regional magistrate has acquitted a 49-year-old Mbare man who had been facing a charge of raping a 12-year-old girl, ruling that the State had failed to establish a prima facie case against him.
Radius Pindurayi of National, Mbare, who was represented by Mr Tendai Masawi of Masawi and Partners, was acquitted by Harare Regional Magistrate Mrs Feresi Chakanyuka after the court found the evidence insufficient to sustain a conviction.
In her ruling, Mrs Chakanyuka noted evidence of a strained relationship between Pindurayi and the complainant’s mother, which was among the issues considered by the court.
The court also considered medical evidence which indicated that the complainant is still a virgin as of 2026 and has never had any intercourse.
The court also noted that the complainant had denied that she was raped four times in the presence of the Investigating Officer.
After analysing the submissions by both parties and witnesses, Magistrate Chakanyuka acquitted Pindurayi.
The State had alleged that on an unknown date, but during December 2024 at around 2:30 pm and at 32 Mushongandebvu Road, National Mbare, Pindurayi noticed that the complainant was alone at home.
He was said to have lured the complainant into his room after giving her some plates to wash for US$1.
It was alleged that when the complainant entered Pindurayi’s room with the plates, the accused forcibly locked the door, tied the complainant’s hands with a shoelace and raped her without protection.
However, Pindurayi, in his defence, denied the offence and, through his lawyer Masawi, submitted that he was not at the scene at the time when the offence was alleged to have been committed, saying he was always at his rural home in Murehwa.
He said he returned to Harare on December 28, 2024, and he did not see the complainant despite seeing her mother and brother, who were the new tenants at the lodgings.
Pindurayi said he returned to Murehwa the next day until January, when he came to pay rent, saying that is when he saw the complainant.
He submitted that he would treat the complainant as his child, saying her mother is the one who was seducing him and suspects that when he did not, that is when the bad blood started.
He further submitted that the complainant’s mother would always request him to buy her alcohol, but he refused, saying the bad blood could have been the result of rejecting her advances.
