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Senior Court Reporter
A SUPERVISOR with the Police Band at Mkuhusi Camp Depot (formerly Morris Depot) in Harare has appeared in court on allegations of raping a band member several times after threatening to have her fired for being a ‘ghost worker’.
Cuthbert Gwidi was not asked to plead to the charges when he appeared before Harare regional magistrate Mr Stanford Mambanje charged with rape.
He was remanded to February 28 on free bail.
Mr Kennedy Madekutsikwa for the State alleged that one evening in 2017, Gwidi sent his fellow band member to fetch some documents from his office. It is alleged that after a while, Gwidi followed the woman to his office where he allegedly threatened to discharge her from work since she was a ghost worker.
He allegedly told the woman that she was recruited without the required qualifications and that he would only recommend her stay at work on condition that she agreed to bed him. He then allegedly pushed her onto a car seat that was in the office and raped her once.
The State alleges that Gwidi would rape the woman on separate occasions in the depot until 2019 using the same threats.
Gwidi is also separately appearing co-accused with his friend Matthew Muleya on the same charges.
It is alleged that in 2018, the ZRP Police Band performed at a Zanu PF fundraising dinner where Muleya was a delegate. After the event, the woman and her fellow band members were stood down and went home.
But Gwidi allegedly later called the woman back to the hotel where the event was held and left her in Muleya’s hands. It is alleged that Muleya then raped the woman twice.
The court heard that the woman discovered that she was infected with a sexually transmitted disease three days after the assault.
She then made a report at Harare Central Police before she was referred to ARC where she was medically examined.
Gwidi and Muleya are expected back in court on February 28.
Online Reporter