Rapist father in the dock

A Beitbridge man accused of allegedly raping his daughter from the time she was 13 in 2020 has denied the charge, accusing her of manufacturing lies after he chased her from home for being pregnant.

This is despite the wife already serving a four-year jail term for confessing to terminating the child’s pregnancy in order to save the husband from embarrassment and possible arrest, according to her statement on admission of guilt in another court.

The man and his wife not named in order to protect the child told the Beitbridge Regional Court, presided over by Innocent Bepura, that he does not know why his wife lied in court because he did not attend the proceedings.

“I was not in the court. I don’t know why and how she said that. I am a Christian and I would not do that because I love all my children. It is not true that I raped her for ritual purposes. My daughter said this because she disliked how I admonished her for having been impregnated by her boyfriend,” the man said in his defence-in-chief.

“She was also unhappy I chastised for playing with a girl older than her and messages in her phone showed she was made pregnant by her boyfriend,” he continued, led by his lawyer Muchineripi Nhire.

He said he requested to have Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests on the child’s foetus earlier because it would have been proved he was not responsible for the pregnancy.

DNA tests reveal the molecule that carries genetic information for the development and functioning of an organism.

The man refused all the evidence by his daughter and her friend to whom she reported the three-year-long rape ordeals reported after the friend advised church elders, who subsequently made a church report.

Nhire then tried to make an application so that the matter would be adjourned, alleging that his client was sick.

“My client is not fit to answer all these questions. I have 150 questions for him but he has a hypertension condition and I am appealing that we continue this case after 14 days. Just look at his condition now,” said Nhire, who previously made several applications to have the matter postponed.

But the State sought a medical expert who said the man’s condition was not chronic and that he was fit to stand trial.

“His condition is not an emergency and has lived with it for years before and still being able to do his work. He could still continue with the trial.”

The medical expert advised against postponement and Magistrate Bepura adjourned the trial for the afternoon the same day.

In his ruling to continue, Bepura said the court would continue after taking note of the expert advice to carry on.

During such a postponement one of the State witnesses, a child belonging to the man and a step-sister to the complainant ran away from a safe home she was kept in order to testify against her dad.

The court heard she was the witness that the complainant told their father was raping her according to the investigating officer, Constable Allan Kurado.

Kurado said his investigations revealed that when she told her sister what their father was doing and the sister did not believe her, they swapped sleeping places at night and the father came and touched the sister thinking it was his victim.

Realising the mistake he quickly left the room that the two slept in.

Under cross-examination from the Prosecutor Willbrought Muleya the man said he disliked his daughter’s friend because she was older than her.

The Prosecutor then brought a record of proceedings from the Magistrate’s Court where his wife confessed to the crime saying she terminated the child’s pregnancy to protect her husband.

“What do you say to this? Earlier on you told this court that your daughter loved you because you were his father and sole breadwinner. Why then would she lie against her best friend as you said? Why was you wife protecting you by helping your child abort? She confessed and has been jailed for four years saying you bought the tablets used,” said Muleya.

The man said he did not know why his wife is in jail despite having told the court they had good relationship prior to this case.

Muleya read to the court the wife’s statement under oath where she said her husband bought the tablets to abort, which the husband denied.

The trial continues this week.