A 28-YEAR-OLD Filabusi man has been arrested for allegedly
raping a 72-year-old woman after he invaded her home in the early hours of the
morning while she was asleep.
Lyton Mlilo of Phikelela Village in Theleka area pleaded
not guilty to rape when he appeared before Gwanda regional magistrate, Mrs
Sibonginkosi Mkandla. He was remanded in custody to Friday for judgement.
Prosecuting, Mr Khumbulani Nyoni said Mlilo raped the old
woman on February 25 at around 2AM.
“On 25 February at around 2AM the complainant was sleeping
alone in her bedroom hut when she was awakened by the noise of someone opening
her door. She quickly switched on her torch and saw that it was the accused
person. Mlilo approached the complainant and ordered her to switch off the
torch and demanded to have sexual intercourse with her. The complainant ordered
Mlilo to leave but he refused and went on to rape her.
“The complainant tried to scream for help but Mlilo
strangled her in order to stop her from making noise. After he had raped her the
complainant managed to push the accused person aside and she escaped and called
out for help. Mlilo fled from the scene,” he said.
Mr Nyoni said two neighbours arrived at the complainant’s
homestead and they tried to track the accused person but failed. The matter was
reported to the police resulting in Mlilo’s arrest.
In his defence Mlilo denied the allegations saying he never
went to the complainant’s homestead. He said he was arrested by the police who
further assaulted and forced him to admit to have committed the offence.
Mlilo said he did not rape the complainant as alleged. “I
was surprised when the police confronted me and accused me of raping the
complainant. When I told them that I didn’t know what they were talking about
they assaulted me and forced me to admit to the allegations,” he said. Herald
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