A STRANDED 19-year-old Zimbabwean woman based in South Africa, commonly referred to as injiva, was allegedly raped and robbed by a kombi driver who pretended to play Good Samaritan by offering to take her home at night.
ALBERT NCUBE OWN CORRESPONDENT
Mandlenkosi Nyoni (36) of Cowdray Park, who was brought from Khami Prison where he is already serving a seven-year jail term for driving a vehicle without the owner’s consent, denied the charges when he appeared before Gwanda regional magistrate Joseph Mabeza yesterday.
Nyoni claimed to have been in South Africa at the time the offence was committed. Judgment will be handed down on Monday.
The teenager told the court that on September 12 2013, she was waiting for transport to Bulawayo en route to South Africa in Kezi when it got late and she decided to abandon her journey and return to Sun Yet Sen.
While at the bus stop, Nyoni and two other people arrived in a white kombi and offered to take passengers to their destinations if they each paid R50. She boarded the kombi.
Along the way, Nyoni allegedly stopped at a relative’s homestead where he dropped off some groceries before proceeding.
The two passengers dropped off in the Gohole area leaving Nyoni alone with the complainant in the kombi.
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Nyoni allegedly drove for a few kilometres and suddenly reduced speed saying his vehicle had developed a mechanical fault.
The young woman then received a phone call from her mother and while she was speaking, Nyoni allegedly grabbed the cellphone and struck her once on the head and demanded that she surrender her money. She handed him R750. Nyoni then ordered her to remove her clothes, but she refused.
“He then grabbed me by the neck, suffocating me while pressing me to the seat. He forcibly removed my trousers and pant and raped me. He was, however, disturbed by an oncoming vehicle. He pushed me outside, threw my clothes at me and made a U-turn back to Maphisa with my belongings. I tried to wave down an oncoming vehicle, but the driver did not stop as I was still naked,” said the sobbing teenager.
Nyoni allegedly drove off with her belongings valued at over R5 000.
“I then got dressed and walked towards Sun Yet Sen, but l got tired and slept in the bush. I woke up the next morning and stopped a vehicle. The couple in the vehicle took me to the police,” she said.
Prosecutor Khumbulani Nyoni called Nyoni’s two relatives who confirmed having seen him on September 12 last year when he dropped the groceries while driving a white kombi.
Nyoni had been on the run until his arrest in May for driving a vehicle without the approval of the owner. He faces another 10 years in prison if convicted of the rape charge.
