Rape accused Bulawayo man convicted of domestic violence

A 32-YEAR-OLD mechanic from Bulawayo, who was being accused of habitually raping and beating a 61-year-old woman who took him in when his relatives threw him out in 2011, has been acquitted of rape but convicted of domestic violence.

The man, whose name has been withheld to protect the identity of the victim, allegedly told the woman he was saving her relatives from death every time he raped her.  He sometimes beat her when she failed to comply with his demands and allegedly threatened to kill anyone that the woman would narrate her ordeal to.

In his initial appearance before Bulawayo magistrate, Mr Joseph Mabeza, the accused person, through his lawyer, Mr Tinashe Runganga, pleaded not guilty to rape and pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges.

The magistrate acquitted him of rape but fined him $100 for domestic violence. The prosecutor, Ms Caroline Matanga admitted the State failed to prove a case for rape against the accused person. "The State has failed to prove a case against the accused person beyond any reasonable doubt.

"The complainant kept on updating the accused person about her plans, even when her children sent her money she made it a point that the accused person was informed," she said.

"The two even went on to buy medication together and as such this is evidence enough that the two were in an intimate relationship and nothing was done privately.

"The State also acknowledges that the complainant had initially denied being in a relationship with the accused person but her conduct in this matter proved otherwise," said the prosecutor.

The man's lawyer said: "My client did not rape the woman; she consented to the sexual intercourse as the two were lovers.  

"If he had been sexually abusing her as she alleges he did, why did she not report the matter to the police from the time when it started?" asked the lawyer.

"She enjoyed the sexual encounters and it is only now that she has decided to report the matter as her relationship with my client has turned sour," said Mr Runganga.

Ms Matanga had told the court that on May 6 in 2011, the complainant found the accused person at the Bulawayo City Hall alleging that he had nowhere to go as his family was having problems with the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and he feared for his life.

She said the complainant took him in. Ms Matanga said from that time the accused person would tell the woman scary stories about his life. In December 2011, the accused person allegedly told the complainant that he loved her and had made a sacrifice on her behalf.  

He claimed that by having sex with the woman, he was saving her and her relatives from dying, as he was talking to goblins who had told him that her relatives were all going to die.

The court heard the accused person had sex with the complainant numerous times, sometimes without protection, between January 2012 and February 2019 and he allegedly threatened to kill anyone that the woman would narrate her ordeal to.  

In February this year, the court heard, the woman finally gathered enough courageto tell her younger sister about the abuse. Ms Matanga said the sibling secretly reported the matter to the police leading to the accused person's arrest.