admin
Tsenulo Moyo
A 39-YEAR-OLD man from Old Lobengula suburb in Bulawayo left the court stunned after he claimed that the woman who caused his arrest for alleged rape was fabricating the charges against him because he had not paid her the money he owed her.
Michael Phiri pulled a shocker when he appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate Matthew Mutiro facing rape charges.
Phiri pleaded not guilty to the offence. He was remanded in custody for continuation of trial.
In his defence, Phiri alleged that the victim (41) whose name is being withheld for legal reasons, was fabricating the charges because he owed her money.
“The complainant is framing me because I sold her tennis shoes and did not give her the proceeds,” said Phiri.
He said he used to drink with the complainant at the same bar and that the complainant used to be in a love relationship with his friend.
He also said that if he had indeed raped the victim, it was impossible for her not to recognise his facial scars and gaps in his teeth.
“So, when giving the police my description, you gave them the description that I was dark in complexion, why did you not tell them I have scars on my face and gaps in my teeth?” he asked the victim.
He also said that the place where the alleged rape took place was an open place, making it impossible to rape anyone without passers-by seeing it.
The victim said she only knew the accused from a distance and had never had any conversation with him. She denied ever being in a love relationship with the accused’s friend.
“I have only seen him a few times at the Madlodlo Bar,” she said.
She said she was going to meet her boyfriend when the accused and his two friends approached her.
“The accused pulled me with the help of his friends, tripped me to the ground, and raped me while his friends were watching,” she said.
She added: “I was scared of screaming fearing they would harm me since the accused was in the company of his two friends.
“I ran away to my boyfriend instead of the police first because I was afraid that if the accused saw me heading to the police station, he would harm me. Therefore, I looked for a male figure to accompany me to the police.”
She said after reporting the matter to the police in the company of her boyfriend, she was instructed not to have sexual intercourse with anyone that particular day and not to take a bath until the next day when she would be clinically examined.
The victim also said that ever since the incident, she does not understand the reactions in her body.
“After every three days, I suffer from a running stomach. I do not know if it’s caused by the medication I got at the hospital because, from the time I was given the medication till date, I have been experiencing this. I am still traumatised by the incident because I can still vividly recall how the accused raped me,” she said.
The victim’s boyfriend said she came to visit him at around 9pm.
“When I questioned her about the visit, she did not respond. She started crying and told me she had been raped,” he said.
He said the complainant took him to a place along 3rd Avenue between George Silunduka and Fife Street, which she alleged was the place she was raped.
He further said the complainant told him that she had managed to observe the accused and that she had seen him several times in Makokoba.
The court heard that on August 14 at around 8 pm, the complainant was on her way to see her boyfriend when she met the accused person in the company of his two friends in an alley near 3rd Avenue between George Silunduka and Fife Street.
As she was passing by, the accused person, who was standing by the alley, tripped her, and she fell to the ground face-up.
The accused dragged her into the alley, pinned her down, and allegedly raped her while his friends stood at the alley entrance watching.
After the act, the accused person searched the complainant and took her US$20, a yellow woollen hat, and a packet of cigarettes, and ran away.
The complainant proceeded to her boyfriend’s place and narrated the ordeal to him. They then went together to report the matter to the police.
It was further heard that on 27 August at around 8pm, the victim saw the accused at Mzilikazi Beer Garden and alerted the police, leading to his arrest.
Online Reporter