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Mathew Masinge
The State closed its case in the indecent assault trial of Mighty Warriors coach Shadreck Mlauzi.
Mlauzi, who was ditched by his lawyers and is self-acting, will now be put to his defence.
Yesterday, the State led its case through a second witness, Dorothy Mugari, who was part of the technical staff that travelled to South Africa for the women’s COSAFA campaign.
Mugari testified that she was approached by the team manager after Mlauzi had allegedly caressed the complainant’s thighs.
She told the court that she confronted Mlauzi about the incident and asked both parties to compile reports which she used to lodge an indecent assault report with ZIFA.
“I am the team’s safeguarding officer, and I know the complainant as the team’s fitness coach. My duty is to protect the interests of both the players and technical staff.
“On October 7, I received a sexual harassment report from our team manager, which claimed that the coach had touched the complainant’s thighs and said inappropriate things to her.
“We quickly convened a meeting with the coach and the complainant where she revealed that she was being harassed.
“She said the coach had been sexually and verbally abusing her for some time and at some point, had shouted at her. She also claimed the coach had touched her thighs in this particular incident,” said Mugari.
Mugari said she ordered both Mlauzi and the complainant to compile reports.
She said her findings were that the complainant did not approve of the coach’s actions of touching her thighs without her consent.
“We also asked the two to submit any other form of communication they shared and they tendered their phone calls and WhatsApp conversations.
“The information gathered proved that the two had some form of communication as workmates and would keep themselves abreast with duty and personal stuff,” said Mugari.
She later compiled a final report which was submitted to ZIFA which was led to Mlauzi’s arrest.
Mugari, however, also revealed that the complainant had bad drinking habits which were visible to the team and she was once sent off the bench for displaying drunken symptoms.
Harare magistrate Ethel Chichera postponed the matter to December 5.
Tariro Janhi appeared for the State.
Online Reporter