Sanele Ncube (46), who is serving a 10-year jail term at
Khami Maximum Prison, says he was trapped into sleeping with his neighbour’s
daughter as her mother had failed to clear a debt.
In an interview, Ncube said his downfall began when he
demanded his money from his neighbour. The woman, instead of looking for the
money, decided to look for a way of getting rid of her debt problem.
“I was employed as a security guard in Bulawayo and this
company was paying me very well and on time such that a lot of people in my
neighbourhood really admired my lifestyle.
“Some ladies even went on to make some moves of inviting me
to propose love to them, but that had no effect on me as I respected myself.
“I was approached by a woman who happened to be one of my
neighbours and she borrowed some money as she claimed that her family had run
out of mealie-meal.
‘Considering the age of the woman I felt sorry for her and
I took the last notes that were in my pocket and I bailed her out.
“The old woman promised to pay back my money within a short
period of time and she insisted that she would bring back the money in less
than a week as I told her that I really needed the money on time,” he said.
The woman went for more than a month without paying back
the money she borrowed. When confronted, she promised to clear her debt.
“When I made a follow-up on my money the old lady was
almost in tears as she insisted that she was going to pay back my money within
a short space of time. Little did I know that I had made the worst mistake of
my life by demanding that money.
“In less than three days I saw one of the old lady’s
granddaughters knocking on my door claiming that she had been sent to pay me a
visit and clear the debt that was now long overdue.
“I failed to get the logic behind the visit of the young
lady as she had no money in her hands, but she pushed me aside as she proceeded
into my room,” he said.
Ncube said when the girl got into his room she walked
straight to his bed and sat down.
She then told him that she had been assigned by her
grandmother to visit him
The inmate said the last words that he remembers coming out
of the young woman were “please don’t impregnate me” as they started caressing
each other like people who had known each other for a very long time.
“If I am to be honest with you my brother I can’t really
explain what happened on the day in question as the moves of this short drama
were rather too fast for me to remember.
“The only words that I remember coming from that young girl
she asked me not to impregnate her and after those words I don’t even remember
what happened as she was already lying on my bed,” he said.
Ncube said soon after the incident the young woman went
back to her grandmother’s place.
“I was surprised the next morning when I saw police
officers at my place looking for me and they told me that I was a wanted man on
allegations of raping a young lady who had been sent to my place to clear a
debt.
“Police officers took me to the station and I was detained
for two days as they were finalising the docket and the issue was referred
to court for finalisation.
“When the trial started the magistrate was made to believe
that I had forced myself on the young lady as a form of payment for a debt that
her grandmother had failed to clear on time,” he said.
Ncube said the magistrate later sentenced him to 10 years
in prison on one count of rape and after the conviction he was transferred to
Khami Remand Prison as he was regarded as a dangerous person to the community.
“When I got to Khami Remand for the first time I never
thought I was going to make it considering the fact that I was still in a state
of shock considering that my life had been destroyed by people, who were not
honest with themselves.
“The other issue that really affected me was my family that
I left behind since I was the sole bread winner and each time I thought about
them I would find myself crying,” he said.
The inmate said rehabilitation officers helped him a lot as
they offered him serious counselling for him to accept the situation that he
was now in.
“I never thought I was going to be still alive and today as
we speak this is my fifth year in prison and the officers helped me choose
farming as a new profession so that I can start my own projects on completing
my jail term.
“Right now we are working in our garden as Khami Maximum
Prison and from this garden we produce a lot of products that range from maize,
vegetables, onions just but to mention a few,” he said. B Metro
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