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Codelia Mondela, Court Reporter
A 55-YEAR-OLD HIV-positive man from Bulawayo allegedly raped his ex-wife seven times in one night without protection.

The man, who cannot be named for ethical reasons, allegedly sexually assaulted the woman on the floor while her baby cried all night on the bed.

The woman (34) told a court that her ex-husband lured her to his house in Mahatshula suburb in January this year by taking her cellphone.

“He had taken my cellphone the previous day that is why I went to his house to take my cellphone which he had taken from me.

“He locked me inside his bedroom, put the keys under his pillow, forcibly removed my jean trousers and tore my lace panties.

“My ex-husband forced himself on me without using protection. He would rape me and go to sleep, wake up and rape me again. He raped me for the seventh time the following morning when I was taking a bath and I managed to push him away.”

Asked why she did not take the keys from under the pillow while the man slept, the woman said she had attempted to take them but the man had pushed her away and she gave up.

The woman told the court that her ex-husband should have put on a condom since he was HIV- positive.

“What pains me the most is that he is HIV-positive and I am HIV negative, but he raped me without using protection. I did not scream or call for help while he was raping me because neighbours knew me as his wife hence it would be embarrassing for them to know that I had been raped,” she said.

The man, who is represented by Mr Costa Dube of Dube and Associates, pleaded not guilty to rape before Bulawayo Regional Magistrate Mrs Sibongile Msipa-Marondedze. The magistrate remanded him out of custody to May 4.

Mr Dube said the two had consensual sexual intercourse on several occasions after their separation. He added that the woman had a tendency of being violent and there was no way that his client could have overpowered and raped her.

He read a message sent by the woman to her ex-husband a day before the alleged rape where she was telling him that she wanted sex and would visit him at his house so he could help her reach climax.

“On the night of January 13 and 14 this year, they had sexual intercourse twice at his place and the woman spent the greater part of the session on the top riding position. She is bitter at the failure of their love affair and is fixing him for no apparent reason,” Mr Dube said.

Mr Robin Mukura appeared for the State.

@MondelaC