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Crime Reporter
Binga North MP Prince Madubeko Sibanda (MDC-T), who was arrested on Monday on allegations of drugging, raping and infecting a 17-year-old girl with an STI in Victoria Falls, was by yesterday still in custody.
Sibanda handed himself over to the police after the teenager reported on Sunday about the alleged rape, which left her hospitalised with an unspecified STI.
It is alleged that the legislator gave her US$20 in November 2013 soon after the rape as an inducement not to report the matter.
Investigations reveal that the teenager is the daughter of a senior MDC-T official in Matabeleland North Province.
Chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said, “He is still in police custody and assisting with investigations. He will appear in court soon once investigations have been completed.”
She said Sibanda met the girl on November 12, 2013 in Victoria Falls and offered her a lift to a high-density suburb.
Sibanda allegedly gave the teenager a drink believed to have been laced with an unknown drug and drove to a thicket along Victoria Falls-Kazungula Road, where he raped her.
“He gave her US$20 and ordered her not to inform anyone about the matter,” Snr Asst Comm Charamba said.
The girl, it is understood, almost failed to write Ordinary Level examinations because she was hospitalised with a sexually-transmitted infection.
Snr Asst Comm Charamba said the teen told her parents of the rape and her father confronted Sibanda.
It is alleged that they agreed on an out-of-court settlement. Sibanda, it is alleged, failed to honour the agreement and only then was a police report made.
Snr Asst Comm Charamba said rape was a serious crime and families should not trivialise it by “negotiating”.
Online Reporter