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Sylvester Chiramba, Court Reporter
A 22-YEAR-OLD man from Bulawayo has been arrested for allegedly raping his neighbour’s 15-year-old daughter while she was drunk, only to expose himself after he later asked her if she was HIV positive or not.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the teenager, allegedly raped the girl who is in Form Three at Gwabalanda suburb on February 28 this year.

The accused person allegedly bought beer for the girl and then pounced on her when she was drunk.

The matter came to light the following day when the man went to his victim’s house enquiring about her HIV status.

He told her that he had had unprotected sexual with her while she was drunk.

The man was not asked to plead when he appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Mr Lungile Ncube facing rape charges.

Mr Ncube remanded him in custody to May 7 for provision of a trial date at the Regional Court and advised him to apply for bail at the High Court.
Prosecuting, Mrs Memory Ndlovu said on February 28 at around 3PM, the complainant was on her way home after accompanying her friends when she met the accused who was driving a car with his friend.

“He asked the girl to come into the car since it was raining and she complied. Along the way he asked her to accompany them to Chigumira shops for a braai and she refused,” said Mrs Ndlovu.

“Accused asked the complainant if she had a friend who would like to accompany them and they went to pick up one of her friends. Afterwards the accused bought Smirnoff vodka and Sprite and they drank together. After drinking, the complainant got drunk and lost consciousness. She regained consciousness around 8PM and went to her place of residence.”

Mrs Ndlovu said on March 1, the accused went to the teenager’s place of residence and told her that he had had unprotected sex with her after drinking.

He said he wanted to know if she was HIV positive.

The girl told her parents about the incident and was referred to hospital for medical examination and a medical report may be produced in court as evidence that she was raped.The man was arrested.—@SlyCee10.