Kereke rape case docket 'tampered with'

The Prosecutor-General's Office has been ordered to release the original docket of the rape case involving Zanu-PF Bikita West legislator Munyaradzi Kereke after the private prosecutor indicated that the duplicate docket which he was given had been heavily tampered with to the prejudice of the complainant.

The order came after private prosecutor Mr Charles Warara had made an application to have the original docket released saying he had written so many letters to the Prosecutor-General's Office requesting the original docket but to no avail.

Regional magistrate Mr Noel Mupeiwa ordered the Prosecutor-General's Office to release the original docket before 2:15pm today.

In his ruling he said: "During the course of the trial, it became clear that some of the photocopied documents which your office allegedly handed over to the private prosecutor are not legible. A lot of questions have risen on the contents of the photocopied documents and statements.

"You are therefore ordered to hand over the original docket to the private prosecutor to enable him to effectively prosecute the matter and also help the effective administration of justice," read part of the ruling.

He added: "If you wish to tender any explanation as to why the original docket is not available to be given to the private prosecutor, I direct that one of your officers should be in court in person today to give explanation," he said.

Mr Warara told the court that the duplicate statement of the scene report which was compiled at Borrowdale Police Station had some distorted information adding that important information which had been supplied by the complainant had been removed.

"Your Worship, I am pleading with this court to order the Prosecutor-General's Office to release the original docket. We were only given the duplicate one which has some anomalies. We have made several efforts to get it but the PG's Office is not forthcoming," he said.

In response, Kereke's lawyer Mr Erum Mutandiro said he had no problems in having the docket released adding that if released, they should be awarded time to go through it.

The trial continued yesterday with the girls' uncle (name withheld) testifying.

He made shocking revelations that after reporting the case at Highlands Police Station, Kereke was never arrested. Instead, six police officers went to his house pleading with him to withdraw the case.

He also said that after the police report, Kereke constantly visited his house intending to have "talks" with him.

"Six officers came to my house, two of them were in police uniforms and they wanted me to close the case. I do not know who had sent them but at that time, the accused person was influential so it is more likely that he would have sent them. We cannot dispute that these police officers had connections with the accused person.

"They had some papers which I did not read and wanted the girls (victims) to put their signatures on them so that they would close the docket, but I refused. I also received calls from one Inspector Mabasa, who wanted the girls to come to Ahmed House. For what? I do not know," he said.

The witness added that he went to the Police General Headquarters and complained about the police's conduct.

He said the police were retrogressive in their approach to this matter.

"Police at Highlands wrote everything we told them when we initially reported including the pointing of a pistol but at Borrowdale Police Station they were omitting some of the important information. The issue of the pistol was omitted. A lot of stuff was being deliberately left out," he said.

Kereke is accused of raping an 11-year-old girl in 2010 at gunpoint and indecently assaulting her sister, aged 15 at the time.