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Esther Moyo

Pamela Shumba Chronicle Reporter
A 15-YEAR-OLD nanny yesterday told a court she was turned into a sex slave by her hooker boss. The girl, from Bubi district under Chief Mtshane Khumalo, told Bulawayo magistrate Gladmore Mushove that she left home hoping to get a job in the city — but her life had turned into a living nightmare.

The teenage girl’s boss, Esther Precious Moyo, 23, of Magwegwe North, is charged with forcing her into prostitution.
Taking the witness stand, the girl said between January 18 and February 2 this year, Moyo took her to brothels, lodges and bars, where she forced her to have sex – sometimes without condoms – with different men.

She told the court: “I left home to look for a job in Bulawayo and met Moyo at Egodini Terminus last month. I was with my sister who told her that we were looking for employment.

“Moyo said she could only take one of us and she took me to her house in Magwegwe North.”
She said three days later, Moyo asked her to accompany her to town and she agreed.

“We sat at Egodini until it was dark. She went into a bar and returned with a man who gave her $20,” she went on.
“She ordered me to go and sleep with the man but I resisted. She shouted at me and clapped me until I agreed.”

She said on another day, Moyo took her to town again at night and surrendered her to three men.
Said the girl: “She was given $20 and ordered me to sleep with one of them while she slept with another. I tried to resist but she beat me up and forced me to sleep with the other two men.”

The teenager – who cannot be named for legal reasons – said she reported the abuse to Moyo’s husband who did nothing.
“He told me not to go with her to town. She beat me up again and said there was no way I could remain with her husband as I would end up sleeping with him. She continued forcing me to sleep with different men,” narrated the girl.

Prosecutors said the young girl, who had not started her menstrual cycle, started bleeding after Moyo forced her to sleep with one old man.
“She forced me to sleep with an old man and I started bleeding, but she refused to buy me sanitary pads. That day we slept at Stop Over bar in town and in the morning she took me to the flea market along 8th Avenue and Robert Mugabe Way (Kokhothama) to buy me second hand clothes to change.

“That’s when some ladies noticed that I was bleeding and became suspicious. They questioned her and took us to the police.”
Moyo admitted being a prostitute, but denied forcing the girl to sleep with different man, claiming she was already in the habit of sleeping around for money.

“I didn’t force her into prostitution,” she protested. “I only hired her to look after my three children, but discovered that she was in the habit of sleeping with men to get money. I decided to let her do what she wanted while I also did my business.

“If I had known that she was 15, I would not have hired her. Her sister told me that she was 22 and she told me that she was 18.”
A medical report submitted to court shows that the girl is HIV negative, pending further tests after three months.

The trial continues today with two witnesses – Thembelihle Ndlovu and Liznet Msimanga – who saw the girl bleeding, expected to testify in court.