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Leonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
BINGA North legislator, Prince Dubeko Sibanda of MDC-T, who was facing charges of drugging and raping a 17-year-old schoolgirl has been found not guilty and acquitted. Hwange regional magistrate, Dambudzo Malunga, said the State had failed to prove a rape case against Sibanda and cleared him of the crime.Sibanda, 42, of Mkhosana in Victoria Falls was also cleared of another charge of obstructing the course of justice, where he was being accused of bribing the girl’s father so he would not report the alleged rape.

The magistrate said the complainant, who was 17-years-old when the alleged rape occurred in November 2013, was not a credible witness as she kept changing stories during trial.

“The complainant wasn’t credible as a witness as she changed stories. Initially she said she never used to communicate with the accused and later changed to say he would phone on her cellphone to talk to his girlfriend after production of the itemised bill in court,” said the magistrate.

The court also expressed concern about the period the victim took to report the alleged rape, which only came to light after her family discovered she had a sexually-transmitted infection (STI).

The victim confided in a pastor that she had been sexually abused. The girl, who dropped out of school as a result of the alleged illness, told the court that she took time to report because she was not prepared to go to court.

The court also found a loophole in the case in that initially it was claimed that Sibanda had given the family a $4,000 bribe while the girl’s father, a former lawmaker for MDC-T, told the court that Sibanda only paid him as a way of compensating the family.

The court also established that the girl was given and accepted $20 after the alleged rape which she used to buy some goodies, while the State led by Tawanda Sigauke couldn’t prove any drugging.

Sigauke said Sibanda, a close friend of the complainant’s father who is also a prominent MDC-T activist, offered the teenager’s father $4,000 to cover up the crime.

It is alleged that on November 12, 2013, Sibanda gave a lift to the girl who was doing Form Four at a private college.

They drove along Kazungula Road and he allegedly offered her a drink which she consumed but immediately became weak and dizzy.

He is alleged to have raped her once in the vehicle without using a condom and later begged her not to report the rape.

Sigauke said the girl only reported the rape after being diagnosed with an STI, resulting in the arrest of Sibanda.