'Rapist' blames victim for seducing him

A BULAWAYO man accused of a sex attack on a married church mate told a court that the woman seduced him when she visited his apartment seeking counselling following marital problems with her husband.

Hudson Mazonde, who was put on his defence following the dismissal of his application for discharge on Wednesday, told Bulawayo regional magistrate Crispen Mberewere on Friday that he had consensual sex with the 29-year-old woman from Bellevue suburb.

Mazonde, a member of Harvest House International Church, said the "adulterous woman" was now framing him to save her collapsing marriage.

Mazonde narrated explicit intimate details of the encounter that occurred last month at his house, describing the act as a romantic indulgence between two lovers.

"I didn't force the woman to have sex with me. In fact, she knew what she was doing. She wanted to have sex, so did I," he explained to the court.

He claimed the victim had agreed to visit him at his home in Bradfield suburb while at a funeral they attended the previous day.

Mazonde, who is represented by Robson Mahachi of Tavengwa Hara and Partners, told the court that he had known the woman for 10 years and that they had been "very close" to each other.

Mazonde also told the court that he had WhatsApp chat messages as evidence to prove their adulterous relationship.

"What I have are WhatsApp messages that we used to send each other where she would even disclose the problems in her marriage. I also have people in church who can testify to this relationship as they used to see us together," said Mazonde during cross examination.

Mazonde apologised about the adulterous affair before the court. "I am sorry for what happened and I even tried to apologise to the woman's husband but he didn't give me a chance. I believe he is also a victim in this matter. I just hope one day she will tell him the truth," he said.

Mazonde, a single father of five, is accused of raping his church-mate after she accepted his invitation to come and watch a movie with him at his house on July 10.

She later informed her husband of the ordeal and the couple made a police report.