Final prosecution witness Ms Cythina Duringo yesterday made stunning claims in court that her friend Ashley “Mai Jeremaya” Masendeke told her that she had consented to being intimate with one of the two men, who allegedly raped her, because he was talking to her nicely.
Mai Jeremaya is
accusing Thabo Blessing Dube and Martin Charlie of taking turns to rape her at
a lodge in Harare.
“She told me
that the two were taking her to their boss and when they got to the reception,
they spent some time chatting and watching her skits. She told me that later
on, someone directed her to a room that had two doors and one of her assailants
went with her and the other one used the other door to get in.
“She said
that’s when she saw that it wasn’t an ordinary meeting, but just played along
so that they wouldn’t hurt her as she had seen a gun,” said Ms Duringo.
She added that
Mai Jeremaya said she played along and was comfortable with one of the two
people, who was light in complexion as he was talking to her nicely. She said
Mai Jeremaya agreed to stay with him in the room and consented to have sexual
intercourse with him.
“She said the
encounter was very long because she didn’t like it and there was someone who
kept coming in and out of the room, which made her uncomfortable. She told me
that after the encounter, she was given US$10, which she used to come back
home,” said Ms Duringo.
The duo’s
lawyers, Shepherd Makonde and George Manokore, quizzed Ms Duringo on the
apparent discrepancies between her testimony and what Mai Jeremaya told the
court.
She was asked
what made Mai Jeremaya leave her house after the alleged rape.
“She had just
come to visit for a sleepover,” said Ms Duringo.
Mr Makonde
further asked: “She told the court that on the day in question, you wanted to
exorcise her using snuff which you put in a pipe, is that correct?”
Ms Duringo told
the court that Mai Jeremaya had lied on that aspect. She also confirmed that
she was the one who told Mai Jeremaya’s husband about the alleged rape and it
was supposed to be a secret between them.
She agreed with
Mr Makonde that if she had not told Mai Jeremaya’s husband, after being asked
not to, he would not have known.
Soon
afterwards, Prosecutor Cecilia Mashingaidze closed her case. H Metro
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