Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Tsenulo Moyo
A 27-YEAR-OLD man from Madeira plot in Umvutshwa in Trenance suburb, Bulawayo who was facing charges of raping his 15-year-old maid and attempting to kill her, was acquitted of both charges after it emerged the two were “madly” in love.
However, his joy was short-lived when he was subsequently charged with having sexual intercourse with a minor. For the offence, he appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate Mathew Mutiro.
He pleaded not guilty to the offence and the matter was remanded to 29 November 2024, for continuation of trial.
The accused said that he was indeed in a love relationship with the complainant but he did not know her age and had not yet engaged in sexual intercourse with her.
“I proposed love to the complainant in August and she agreed in September. I had not yet engaged in sexual intercourse with her. There were some things I sought to understand about the complainant. The complainant also did not say anything about her age when I was proposing love to her, and nowadays it’s not easy to tell how old a person is by just looking at them,” he said.
He also alleged that the complainant had told him about her previous encounters, such as her relationship with a man named Sibanda.
She told him that their relationship had been discovered by her mother, and Sibanda had been forced to pay compensation.
He also said he once found the complainant with another male person at the time she alleged the rape occurred. “I intended to make the complainant my second wife that is the reason why I was not in a hurry.
I intended to find out more information about her as time went on because I was still fixing something,” he said.
Meanwhile, the complainant said she had told the accused person her actual age at the time he was proposing love to her.
She said she was not raped by the accused, nor did he attempt to kill her, but they engaged in consensual sexual intercourse twice.
The complainant said she had known the accused person since she was in primary school, and her parents were the ones who went to report that he had raped her and attempted to kill her.
Circumstances are that the accused and his wife were looking for a maid to look after their baby since they were always out at work.
The complainant’s mother then told the accused that she had a daughter who would be willing to do the work, and she was hired.
The accused is said to have proposed love to the complainant and allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse with her twice when his wife was not at home.
The matter was reported to the police, leading to the arrest of the accused.
