Woman accused of raping boy, 7

A MARRIED mum-of-two "raped" a Grade Two pupil after promising to give him a pencil and snot apples (uxakuxaku), a court heard yesterday.

Gugulethu Ncube, 24, who lived in Bulawayo's Lobengula West suburb, allegedly undressed the boy, then aged seven, and asked him to hold his penis which she inserted into her privates and forced him to suckle her breasts.

The sickening abuse, say prosecutors, was exposed when the boy was caught poking other pupils at school with his penis.

On being asked by a teacher why he was always threatening to prick other pupils with his penis, he said Ncube had taught him how to use it as a weapon.

She appeared before Regional Magistrate Mark Dzira yesterday facing charges of aggravated indecent assault and pleaded not guilty.

Taking the witness stand, the boy's grandmother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said:

"I was called to school one day and was surprised when I heard school authorities accusing my grandson of exposing his genitals to other Grade Two pupils.

"I questioned him together with a stunned school head and a class teacher and he narrated how his abuse by Gugulethu, our neighbour, was leading him to poke others with his penis.

"He told us that Gugulethu called him to her house promising to give him uxakuxaku and a pencil and he complied. When he got into the house, Gugu forced him to undress threatening to assault him if he refused.

"He said he removed his clothes and was ordered to lie down holding his penis before Gugulethu who was wearing red panties lay on top of him and orderd him to make up and down movements.

"My grandson told me Gugu later forced him to suckle her breasts. He said she asked him to comment on whether they were tasty. The boy said Gugu told him to keep the act a secret, threatening to beat him up if he revealed it to anyone."

Ncube, after entering a not guilty plea, insisted that she was happily married with two children.

"I plead not guilty to these allegations. I relocated a long time ago from Lobengula West and moved in with my husband. There was no way I could do that while I had moved in with my husband," she told court.

"Even if I did that, I used to stay in a house which was always full of people and they could have seen or heard me doing it."

Tinashe Dzipe, prosecuting, said sometime in 2009, Ncube approached the boy, then aged seven, and called him to her house saying she wanted to give him a pencil.

That evening, the boy went to his neighbour's house where the abuse allegedly occurred. The trial continues on Monday with the boy's class teacher expected to testify.