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Walter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
DOCTORS who ignore court orders to give evidence in cases of rape now face prosecution for contempt of court, a Masvingo regional magistrate has said.
Speaking during a meeting of people involved with the victim friendly court project at Masvingo regional court, Colet Ncube expressed concern over doctors who gave inconsistent medical reports of victims of rape and refused to appear in court to assist in interpreting what they would have reported saying such professionals would be arrested.

He said medical reports and affidavits filed by state registered nurses were easier to understand compared to those done by doctors.
He said the trend was worrying given that doctors were people that the judiciary looked up to as authoritative witnesses in rape cases.

He said in some instances suspects were let off the hook simply because the report given by the doctor would not be clear.
“We are facing a number of challenges when trying rape cases due to incomplete medical reports. The medical reports we are getting from most doctors here in Masvingo leave a lot to be desired as they will not be consistent. A number of guilty suspects get off the hook because the doctor’s report is not consistent.

“To make matters worse, doctors normally snub stakeholders’ meetings yet they are stakeholders. We will ask them to come and give evidence in court but if they fail to do that, obviously they will be arrested for contempt of court,” said Ncube.

He said recently, a doctor was summoned to court to give evidence but he was very rude and had to be forced to give evidence.
“One doctor was subpoenaed last time but again we had a serious problem with his conduct. He was not prepared to cooperate with the prosecution. The kind of responses he was giving to the lawyer were also provoking until we threatened him with incarceration for contempt of court. I had to cajole him to use proper language after realising that he was becoming rude.”

Ncube suggested that the law should empower state registered nurses so that they can be allowed to do examinations on rape victims since their reporting has proved to be consistent.