A woman from Jambezi in Hwange District who is married to a local village head has been jailed for 15 years for raping a 28-year-old mentally-challenged man.

Sitheni Masina (35) of Hail Ndlovu homestead BH126 in Victoria Falls pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated indecent assault, but was convicted by Hwange regional magistrate, Mr Mark Dzira.

The court heard that on an unknown date, but during the period extending between January 1 and 31, 2023, the complainant visited Masina at her place of residence.

On his arrival, she asked him to accompany her to the fields where she raped the complainant.

After the act, the court heard, the accused dressed the complainant and told him not to tell anyone.

On another occasion during the period between February 1 and June 9, 2023, the complainant again visited the accused's place of residence where she raped him again.

On June 10, 2023, the complainant revealed the matter to his brother before a report was made leading to Masina's arrest.

Through her lawyer, Mrs Nomusa Khumalo of Khumalo Legal Practitioners, Masina denied the allegations arguing that she had only fed him on the said occasions because he was being neglected by everyone.

"I deny the allegations levelled against me. On the said occasion all I did was to feed the complainant who is mentally challenged and was being neglected by his family," she argued.