Harare — A 34-year-old man yesterday appeared before a Harare magistrate facing charges of raping his brother-in-law's wife.

Kediyasi Nyakudya of Chikokonya Village in Chinamhora communal lands is alleged to have forced himself on the 21-year-old woman in his garden on October 16 this year.

The court heard that on that day at around 1pm, the accused approached the complainant who was lying under a tree in the garden.

He allegedly covered her mouth with his hand and raped her once.

The State says he told her that if she reported the matter he would flatly deny having raped her and would also prohibit her family from farm in his garden.

The complainant, the court heard, found it difficult to tell her husband what had transpired but after sometime she informed a cousin.

The cousin, it is understood, then told her husband about the alleged rape and he in turn immediately reported the matter to the police leading to the suspect's arrest.

Nyakudya asked the court to give him time to prepare his defence and find a legal practitioner who could represent him in court.

Magistrate Rogers Kachambwa advised the accused to apply for bail at the High Court and remanded him in custody to November 12. Mr Norman Tsarwe appeared for the State.