A 24-YEAR-OLD Kezi man who had been ordered to serve 20 years in jail following his conviction on four counts of rape by a Bulawayo Regional Court magistrate was yesterday freed after he successfully appealed the conviction and sentence at the High Court.
BY SILAS NKALA
Mduduzi Sibanda was freed by Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha sitting with Justice Martin Makonese after he had already served two years of the sentence.
Sibanda was on April 2, 2013 convicted on four counts of raping a 17-year-old girl and sentenced to 20 years in jail before five years were suspended on condition of good behaviour.
In his appeal, Sibanda argued that the magistrate misdirected himself by convicting and sentencing him when he and the alleged victim were lovers.
