News / National
Maid accused of 'infecting' boy (13) with STI acquitted
24 Nov 2015 at 06:41hrs | Views
A 28-YEAR-OLD Gweru housemaid -Esnath Hove has escaped jail after she faced allegations of infecting a 13-year-old boy with a sexually-transmitted infection.
Hove was acquitted of indecent assault charges.
Allegations were that Hove who resided at her employer's house in Mkoba 7, grabbed the boy and forcibly had sex with him.
Hove, however, denied the charges, arguing the boy's mother had failed to pay her $140, as two months' salary, and had made up the story to avoid meeting her financial obligations.
Hove also said the juvenile was a naughty boy as he would at times come home late in the evening from school, an issue, she said, the boy's mother knew, as she had confided in her on several occasions.
In delivering judgment, regional magistrate, Collet Ncube said although it was clear the juvenile had been infected with a sexually transmitted disease, what was questionable was the way he was reticent in identifying the person who sexually abused him.
"I find it surprising that a 13-year-old boy, who grew up in town, can be bullied by a maid with a rural background to the extent of being seized with fear not to point her as his abuser," he said.
The magistrate further said the boy was questioned for several days by his mother, but maintained it was just a boil causing his privates to swell. He said even at the clinic, and in the absence of his mother, when the boy was treated, he refused to divulge what had happened to him.
He said both the juvenile and the maid tested negative for HIV, while the woman also tested negative for any sexually transmitted infection.
"The State, therefore, failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and the danger of falsely incriminating the accused is high and I give (accused) the benefit of doubt and acquit her," Ncube said.
The State's case was that on an unknown date, but in July, Hove slept in the dining room with the boy , as the other rooms were under renovations.
Around midnight, the State alleged, Hove pulled the boy's shorts and underwear to knee level and pulled her skirt to her chest and forcibly had sex with him.
On July 18 this year, it was alleged, the boy's mother asked him to try new underwear and that was when she discovered his organ is swollen, discharging pus and had a rash around the foreskin.
It is alleged, after asking him what had happened, he refused to open up, but only implicated the maid on July 29, after several threats of assault by his mother.
Hove was acquitted of indecent assault charges.
Allegations were that Hove who resided at her employer's house in Mkoba 7, grabbed the boy and forcibly had sex with him.
Hove, however, denied the charges, arguing the boy's mother had failed to pay her $140, as two months' salary, and had made up the story to avoid meeting her financial obligations.
Hove also said the juvenile was a naughty boy as he would at times come home late in the evening from school, an issue, she said, the boy's mother knew, as she had confided in her on several occasions.
In delivering judgment, regional magistrate, Collet Ncube said although it was clear the juvenile had been infected with a sexually transmitted disease, what was questionable was the way he was reticent in identifying the person who sexually abused him.
"I find it surprising that a 13-year-old boy, who grew up in town, can be bullied by a maid with a rural background to the extent of being seized with fear not to point her as his abuser," he said.
The magistrate further said the boy was questioned for several days by his mother, but maintained it was just a boil causing his privates to swell. He said even at the clinic, and in the absence of his mother, when the boy was treated, he refused to divulge what had happened to him.
He said both the juvenile and the maid tested negative for HIV, while the woman also tested negative for any sexually transmitted infection.
"The State, therefore, failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and the danger of falsely incriminating the accused is high and I give (accused) the benefit of doubt and acquit her," Ncube said.
The State's case was that on an unknown date, but in July, Hove slept in the dining room with the boy , as the other rooms were under renovations.
Around midnight, the State alleged, Hove pulled the boy's shorts and underwear to knee level and pulled her skirt to her chest and forcibly had sex with him.
On July 18 this year, it was alleged, the boy's mother asked him to try new underwear and that was when she discovered his organ is swollen, discharging pus and had a rash around the foreskin.
It is alleged, after asking him what had happened, he refused to open up, but only implicated the maid on July 29, after several threats of assault by his mother.
Source - Southern Eye
