A DETE man appeared in court for allegedly raping an 86-year-old granny, before he fell into a deep sleep.
Richard Muponde
On Friday the man, Mochani Ncube (38), appeared before Hwange regional magistrate Dambudzo Malunga facing one count of rape.
Ncube and the granny are strangers to each other.
He first tendered a plea of guilty, but later altered it to that of not guilty, saying he was in love with the granny and had a consensual sex with her. However, he was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Five years were suspended on condition of good behaviour.
“We were in love, she was my girlfriend, in fact, she invited me several times to her homestead to be intimate, but I didn’t go,” he said in his defence.
“On the day, I decided to honour her invitation.
“However, the problem arose when she discovered that I was too drunk, she became angry and an altercation arose, leading to me assaulting her.
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“After the fight, she invited me to be intimate with her.”
However, the granny in her evidence-in-chief said she did not know Ncube and only came to know about him in court.
“On the day when he raped me, I didn’t see him as it was dark,” she said. “He was also apprehended while asleep and taken to the police without me setting eyes on him.”
Prosecutor Bheki Tshabalala told the court that on March 13, Ncube went to the granny’s homestead, where she stayed alone.
On arrival, he forcibly opened the door to her bedroom hut. While inside he threatened to kill her and she screamed. Ncube started assaulting her with fists and bit her on the cheek to subdue her. He later forced her onto the bed and raped her once. After raping her, Ncube slept embracing her, preventing the old woman from fleeing. The granny later asked to go and relieve herself and he agreed. When she went out, she escaped to a neighbour’s homestead and made a report. Ncube was then apprehended while he was asleep and was handed over to the police.
