AFTER months of a legal battle a 27-year-old man from Sipepa in Tsholotsho, Matabeland North province, breathed a sigh of relief when he was acquitted of a rape charge.
Bulawayo regional magistrate Sibonginkosi Mnkandla acquitted Hlanganani Ndlovu, who had pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Mnkandla cited a lack of credible evidence linking Ndlovu to the case.
The complainant and the accused person are not related, but they reside in the same area.
The court was told that on January 23 this year, the 14-year-old complainant was playing at her grandmother’s homestead until it became dark.
She decided to go back home at around 8pm and allegedly met the accused person, who ordered her to go back where she had come from.
Ndlovu was said to have told the girl to call someone for him at her grandmother’s place and she refused.
It was alleged that this did not go well with Ndlovu, who slapped the complainant several times on the cheek, before dragging her off the road to an uninhabited homestead.
- Mphoko’s son granted bail
- Villagers to launch seed bank
- Rapists prey on Zibalongwe pupils
- Youths take on MPs over sexual health
Keep Reading
Ndlovu allegedly ordered the complainant to undress while threatening her with further assault and she complied in fear.
He allegedly ordered her to lie down facing upwards and raped her once.
It is alleged that Ndlovu left the scene soon after the act and the complainant took her clothes and ran home naked, where she narrated her ordeal to her mother.
