Two men in court on separate rape charges involving minors

TWO men appeared separately before the Western Commonage regional court on rape charges involving minors.

In the first case, a 20-year-old Bulawayo man is accused of detaining a 15-year-old girl at his home for five days during which he allegedly raped her on four occasions.

Michael Moyo appeared before Western Commonage regional magistrate Mr Pasipanodya Maturure, facing a rape charge.

He was remanded in custody to July 27 for continuation of the trial.

In his defence, Moyo denied the allegations, telling the court that he did not know the complainant and he never stayed with her for five days or had sexual intercourse with her as alleged.

Prosecuting, Ms Melissa Dube told the court that the alleged offence occurred on June 7 at around 2PM when the complainant left her parents’ home after a misunderstanding and proceeded to the accused’s place of residence.

Upon arrival at Moyo’s place, the accused detained the girl for five days, during which he allegedly raped her on four different occasions.

The matter was reported to the police and the complainant was referred to the complainant was referred for medical examination.

Meanwhile, a 39-year-old man from Umguza appeared before the same magistrate for allegedly raping his 13-year-old daughter.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the complainant’s identity, appeared before Mr Maturure facing rape charges.

He was remanded in custody to July 23 for continuation of the trial.

In her testimony, the complainant told the court that they used to sleep on the floor with her two other siblings when the accused ordered her to share a bed with him.

When the complainant refused to sleep with her father and the accused threatened to assault her, resulting in her complying, the court heard

“He threatened me that if I disclose the matter to anyone, he would either assault me or kill me,” said the complainant.

The court heard that the complainant later narrated her ordeal to her aunt, who in turn notified the girl’s mother. The matter was then reported to the police, leading to the accused’s arrest.

In his defence, the accused denied the allegation, saying that he never slept in the same room with her daughter since her mother left her when she was 11.

Prosecuting, Ms Melissa Dube told the court that on June 15, the accused started by inserting his finger in the complainant’s private parts before he later raped her.

The court heard that each time the accused finished raping the complainant, he would then order her to return to the floor to sleep with her siblings.

The complainant later fled home and went to sleep at her friend’s place of residence before alerting her aunt.