Published by the government of Zimbabwe
11 November 2009
Harare — Kwekwe legislator Blessing Chebundo was yesterday acquitted of charges of raping and making pregnant a Form Two girl.
Harare regional magistrate Mr William Bhila in his judgment dismissed the State's evidence as flimsy as it relied mainly on the complainant and her sister's testimony.
He found the accused not guilty of the rape charges.
"The State should build its case on firmer ground. It should prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. There were occasions for accused to rape the complainant, if we can believe that they were at one time alone.
"Entering a red or amber robot is not a sign that one is guilty of a crime as was alleged by the State. There is no standard behaviour in such situations," he said.
Mr Bhila said the complainant kept quiet about the rape from January until May and the sister kept quiet about the crime for two weeks, weakening their case.
He said the complainant further worsened the situation by destroying the key evidence.
The defence team, led by Advocate Happias Zhou, instructed by Mr Michael Toendepi Jumo of Jumo, Mashoko and Partners and Mr Reginald Chidawanyika of Chitere, Chidawanyika and Partners, probably held their breath when Mr Bhila told the packed court that the defence's evidence was riddled with some potholes and the complainant was fluent and answered questions under cross-examination calmly with ease in the opening stages of the judgment.
Mr Bhila said the evidence given by Assistant Inspector Taurai Gororo describing the manner in which the alleged rape was committed contradicted with the evidence given by the complainant.
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