Mponchi pleaded not guilty before Harare regional
magistrate Ignatio Mhene.
In denying the charges, Mponchi through his lawyer Ashiel
Mugiya, told the court that he never raped the complainant but he had sexual
intercourse with her after she had consented to it.
“Accused pleads not guilty to the charge of rape, he never
raped the complainant and will tell the court that on the day in question he
had sexual intercourse with the consent of the complainant as they were in a
love relationship.
“He will tell the court that after the act he accompanied
the complainant home and was surprised after a few days when the police contacted
him for these allegations of rape.
“From the reading of the state papers it’s quite clear that
the complainant was somehow coerced to raise these allegations against him.
“He believes that this was not a free and voluntary report
but there was some illegitimate pressure on the complainant and will pray for
his acquittal,” said Mugiya reading out the defence outline.
The State, represented by Shepherd Makonde, opened its case
by leading evidence from the complainant who testified that the two were
friends when the alleged incident occurred.
“We were sharing a friendship that of a brother and sister
for about three days and when we met on the third day, he forced himself on me
and raped me on August 21 this year.
“I asked him to take me to Kuwadzana where I was supposed
to attend a birthday party and he agreed to accompany me and left me there.
“I didn’t feel comfortable at the party because I didn’t
know anyone there so we communicated on WhatsApp and I told him that I wasn’t
comfortable with the people at the party, he offered to pick me up and take me
home.
“On our way he told me that he wanted to pass through a
certain house to collect his laptop and he asked me to get in that was when he
offered me a drink that he took from the fridge in a tumbler.
“I started having the drink while he went to buy food then
I started feeling dizzy and slept and when I woke up he was back from the shops
and he started kissing me on the neck the before raping me.
“I was feeling weak from the drink so I couldn’t fight him
off so he slid my panties aside and penetrated I don’t know what really
happened.
I tried to resist but couldn’t do anything as he was
pinning me down,” she said.
The complainant denied ever having consented to the sexual
intercourse or being in a love relationship with Mponchi but told the court
that he had sent a text message proposing love to her a proposal which she
denied because they had just met.
Mugiya through cross examination pointed out the
inconsistencies in the complainant’s evidence in chief and on the statement she
had given to the police.
She admitted that she had lied to her mother about what
really transpired ‘to get her off her back about the ordeal.’
The matter is back in court tomorrow for trial
continuation. H Metro
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