NATALIE S NYATHI
After spending two full months behind bars on rape allegations an eighteen-year-old Bulawayo man breathed fresh air as he was cleared of the charges because of a weak testimony.
The accused identified as Joseph Ncube from Bulawayo, became the happiest man after having Been held in custody for two months from the eighteenth of February for sexually abusing his seven-year-old niece.
Allegations against the accused state that on the 2nd of February 2023, the accused was left alone with the minor after the parents went to till the fields. The accused was said to have been sleeping on the sitting room sofa saw the child playing outside grabbed and dragged her to the sitting room whilst muffling her mouth with his hand.
When he was out of sight in the sitting room, the accused then removed the victim’s undergarments and on raped her with his erect penis. Afterward, the accused is supposed to have sent the victim away.
The mother suddenly returned and met her child undressed, and concluded that she had been abused. She then stormed into the sitting room to confront the accused who was holding a pair of his trousers in one hand and his penis was erect.
The victim’s mother reported the matter to the police and medical tests were conducted on the minor within the prescribed period.
The results showed that indeed the child had been abused but the wounds present were not fresh but old. On cross-examination, the minor revealed that she had been previously abused many times before.
During the investigations, it was also established that there was bad blood between the family if the accused and that of the victim.
The accused and the mother of the victim are cousins.
It was also established that the victim’s grandmother had warned the mother to keep a close watch as it seemed the child was being abused, but the mother overlooked the matter.
Due to many inconsistencies in the reports, the Court released the accused as there was no credibility in what the medical report and the complainant’s testimony stated.