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Auxilia Katongomara, Chronicle Reporter
A MAN has dragged a ‘prostitute’ to court after she allegedly stole his $58 after they spent a night together.

Appearing before Bulawayo magistrate, Ms Rachel Mukanga, Memory Dube (35) of Nkulumane 12 suburb pleaded not guilty to a theft charge.

The complainant, Graeme Mangwengwende, (39) of Njube suburb said he discovered that his money was missing when he woke up in the morning.

He accused Dube, whom he had pampered with drinks before they decided to go to a lodge, of stealing from him.

In her defence, Dube said she did not steal the money.

The woman said Mangwengwende had said he would pay her for spending the night with her, but did not fulfil his promise.

She claimed that she was not a prostitute but a teacher based in Namibia.

The magistrate asked how she could spend a night with a man whom she had met for only two hours, and she said he proposed and she was getting to know him better.

“After spending about two hours together, he asked where I stayed and I told him but said we could not go to my place because there were my three children. He then said we could not go to his place either because he stayed with his parents.

“We were both drunk by then and he said he could not drive me home so we then opted to go to a lodge where we spent the night,” said Dube.

She denied stealing the money saying the complainant did not have cash on him but was using EcoCash transactions when they were drinking.

She said Mangwengwende was falsely accusing her because she had refused to be intimate with her.

“I refused to sleep with him because he had proposed to me and we were getting to know each other. I told him that we must not rush things,” she said.

Mangwengwende who is self-employed told the court that he had been using EcoCash but had reserved some cash to buy fuel.

Prosecuting, Mr Raymond Makhaza said on July 6 last year, Mangwengwende and Dube booked a lodge to spend some time together.

“At around 2AM, Dube woke up and stole Mangwengwende’s money amounting to $58 from his trousers which was on the dressing table,” he said.

Mr Makhaza said Mangwengwende discovered the offence when he woke up at 6AM and they quarrelled leading to her arrest.

Dube would be back in court on January 22.

@AuxiliaK