A BULAWAYO magistrate has acquitted a 24-year-old man who was being accused of rape and having sexual intercourse with a minor after the court found the complainant had lied to him that she was 18 years old.
Siphosenkosi Dube was found not guilty by Bulawayo regional magistrate Mark Dzira, who ruled that there was insufficient evidence to link him to the offences.
During trial, Dube maintained that the girl had deceived him about her age.
“She told me she was 18, so I believed her,” he testified.
His defence was corroborated by the complainant's admission in court that she lied about being 18, when she was 14.
The court heard that the incident occurred on October 6, 2025, around 5pm, after the minor had run away from home.
She met Dube in Bulawayo’s central business district where he offered her a place to stay.
The State alleged that consensual sexual intercourse took place afterwards.
The minor was medically examined and report was presented as evidence in court.
Dzira cited lack of evidence proving Dube’s knowledge of the complainant’s age as the basis for the acquittal.
