Zimpapers Logo

Mashudu Netsianda Senior Court Reporter
AN HIV positive Tsholotsho man secretly sexually abused his orphaned sister-in-law for three years and allegedly infected her with the deadly virus. The abuse, which started in 2007 when the victim was only 13, went undetected until 2010 when she fled his home. Haunted by an evil past, the victim, who is now 22, decided to report the matter to the police early this year after she tested positive for HIV.

Debson Ngwenya, whose age was not given and resides at Mapulubusi Line, appeared yesterday before Bulawayo regional magistrate Mark Dzira facing charges of rape.

He was remanded out of custody to today for continuation of trial.

The victim told the court that Ngwenya adopted her when she was doing Grade Three following the death of her parents.

“My brother-in-law has been sexually abusing me since 2007 when I was doing Grade Three until 2010. After raping me, he would warn me against revealing the matter to anyone threatening to chuck me out of his home. He would also tell me that the rape was payback for looking after me,” she said. However, Ngwenya, in his defence, said the victim’s story was fabricated.

“I regarded the woman as my own child since I started taking care of her at a tender age when she was doing Grade Three. She also lied that I was initiated into antiretroviral therapy in 2005 when in fact, I only started in 2013,” said Ngwenya.

He also claimed under cross-examination that the victim was infected by her late boyfriend.

Prosecuting, Tinashe Dzipe said sometime between 2007 and 2010, Ngwenya would take advantage of the absence of the victim’s sister from home and sneak into her blankets.

He would allegedly force her to have sexual intercourse with him. The court heard that after each act, Ngwenya would threaten to chase away the orphaned victim from his homestead if she reported the matter to her sister.

In 2010, Ngwenya tried to rape the victim but she wrestled him and moved out of his home before crossing the border to South Africa.

She got married in January this year and became pregnant a few months later. The court heard that the victim and her husband went for an HIV test and the results showed that she was positive while her partner was negative.

The victim, in the company of her aunt, reported the matter to the police leading to Ngwenya’s arrest.