Manyika pleaded
not guilty to both rape counts when he appeared before Harare regional
magistrate Fadzai Mthombeni.
He is accused
of raping a learner who was a beneficiary of a scholarship that is offered to
under-privileged students.
In his defence,
Manyika denied ever raping the complainant, but told the court that there was a
“mutual attraction” between them and they engaged in consensual sex.
He denied the
first count which allegedly occurred in November 2022 stating that he never
raped the learner but that was the time that their “mutual attraction
blossomed”.
Manyika told
the court that he would meet her on several occasions in and around the Mt
Pleasant area and would visit her on campus at the University of Zimbabwe.
Manyika
disputed the State’s claim that he told the complainant that he was in charge
of scholarships, neither did he threaten to remove her from the scheme, after
the alleged rape as claimed.
He denied ever
misleading the complainant that he would marry her as he is already married,
and it was just an extra-marital affair.
In denying the
second count, which allegedly occurred last year, Manyika told the court that
he had sexual contact with her twice in June at the complainant’s parking lot
at her residence and once along Belfast Close.
All occasions
were in the car.
He told the
court that he would send her money, and they would chat and play games online,
which is inconsistent with the actions of a rape victim.
Manyika further
claimed that the allegations emanated from the fact that she had committed an
offence at the same property company where she was employed and was due for a
disciplinary hearing.
The State
represented by Chido Gohori led evidence from the complainant who told the
court that Manyika raped her twice and threatened to remove her from the
scholarship programme.
She told the
court that he infected her with a sexually-transmitted infection.
The trial
resumes on April 23. Herald
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