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Court Reporters
A 45-year-old man has been sentenced to 22 years in jail for raping and assaulting a 19-year-old woman near 23rd Avenue in Bulawayo.
He was sentenced following conviction by Bulawayo Regional magistrate, Ms Sibonginkosi Mnkandla.
“The offender raped the victim and when she got up and ran away and he eventually caught up with her and struck her with a metal object and a log all over her body.
“The victim’s evidence was supported by other witnesses who saw her naked and screaming while she kept calling her husband. The courts do not doubt the State witnesses.
“The witnesses that saw her naked and screaming confirmed that it was not her husband that attacked her, rather she was searching for him and later found him at a nearby tent,” said Ms Mnkandla.
Ms Mnkandla said a medical report confirmed that the victim had sustained serious injuries as a result of the assault.
“The victim made a report voluntarily without coercion or influence. The offender has no defence to the charges levelled against him,” said Ms Mnkandla.
Prosecuting, Ms Nomthandazo Mafu said on September 22 at around 9PM the victim went to collect rent money from her husband near the convict’s place of residence along 23rd Avenue.
“As she was walking alone, the convict passed some comments and she ignored them. He then hit her with a stone and as she bent down to attend to her injured leg, the convict lifted her and threw her in between plastic bales that were nearby,” she said.
Ms Mafu told the court that the victim tried to escape but the convict stripped her, threw her clothes away, and raped her.
The court heard that the convict proceeded to pick a metal object and struck the victim on her left eye.
“He assaulted the victim with a log all over the body before she eventually found her husband nearby and he escorted her to the police station,” said Ms Mafu.
In aggravation, the prosecutor submitted that the offender committed a heinous offence and further wasted the court’s time by denying the allegations.
“He undressed the victim, causing her to run around naked. The victim sustained a serious physical and emotional trauma as she fears she might never conceive again,” said Ms Mafu.
In a related separate case, a 28-year-old man from Bulawayo’s Emganwini suburb also appeared in court on allegations of raping his 11-year-old niece on two separate occasions.
The accused, whose name is withheld to protect the victim’s identity, appeared before the Bulawayo Western Commonage magistrate, Mrs Sibongile Marondedze who remanded him in custody until December 5.
He allegedly committed the crime sometime in September this year.
Prosecuting, Ms Melisa Dube said the alleged sexual offence occurred when the accused found the complainant sleeping in her grandmother’s bedroom.
She said upon entering the room, he removed the complainant’s clothes and raped her.
On the other occasion, the court was told that the accused found the complainant alone and forced her into his bedroom where he raped her. The court heard that the matter came to light when the complainant narrated the events to her mother.
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