'I can't sustain erection,' says suspected rapist

A 26-YEAR-OLD Beitbridge man who allegedly raped his HIV-positive girlfriend yesterday told a Magistrates' Court that he could not have committed the crime because he cannot sustain an erection.

Kidmore Phenias of Public Works Department houses in the border town said he had never slept with a woman.

"I was born with a challenge. I have never been able to have sex with a woman," he said when he appeared before Matabeleland South regional magistrate Joseph Maveza.

Phenias pleaded not guilty to the charges saying his girlfriend's mother had concocted the allegations.

He said he had been cohabiting with his girlfriend since January, but was never intimate with her because of his erectile problems.

"It was difficult for me to be intimate with the woman and that prompted her to desert me," Phenias said.

According to prosecutors, Phenias' girlfriend deserted him on April 19, but he followed her to her mother's house.

He found his girlfriend's mother asleep and took advantage of that to force-march his lover to his house.

The two spent the whole night at Phenias' place fighting as the girlfriend wanted to return to her mother's house.

He kept her at the house before he allegedly raped her on April 21. The victim told the court that Phenias was lying that he could not sustain an erection.

"Phenias was abusing me, saying I was as good as a corpse and had literally caused his death because I am HIV-positive," the woman said.

She said Phenias had told her that he did not love her anymore and would at times threaten her with death.

The woman said her boyfriend would insist on having unprotected sex with her despite knowing that she was HIV positive.