The case of a rape victim who died before the courts could decide her case has sparked a storm in Chivi district, with the community threatening immediate justice for the rape suspect roaming freely in the village, a development that has forced the police to launch fresh investigations.
Sources told TellZim News that police from the Chivi area are now re-investigating, interviewing key witnesses in the rape case that involved a 14-year-old girl who died under mysterious circumstances a few months after the incident; After the community registered its dissatisfaction with the way the entire issue was handled.
The victim’s death led to the release of the prime suspect because she only died after the initial court appearance. But community members are having none of it, threatening to take the matter into their own hands.
Masvingo Provincial Police spokesman, Inspector Kudakwashe Diwa, was unable to comment on the matter as he had yet to receive an update from the police in Chivi.
Village head Enoch Shunhiwa confirmed the incident and appealed to the relevant authorities to intervene before the situation gets out of control.
The situation is tense. I appeal to the authorities to intervene before the situation gets out of control. “There is a need to facilitate dialogue to ensure that peace is maintained.”
The sources said that after the victim’s death, the suspect locked himself in the house and did not interact with anyone until the village chief called a meeting to try to address the matter.
“Our children are afraid to pass by the suspect’s house or even meet him in the village, although women also live in fear. As a community, we are very angry and bitter; everyone was upset after learning how the matter was settled when we all learned that he had confessed to raping the victim.
“We all know that he raped the girl. He confessed in front of everyone after the village head summoned him and asked him why he was isolated from society. Then he said that he wanted to ask forgiveness from the victim’s grandmother, who happened to be a relative of his.
“The village head asked him what he had done and he confessed, saying that he had slept with a minor child. “Since then he started attending meetings, but if he tried to make any contribution there would be noise of discord among the crowd,” said a villager who asked not to be named.
Shunhiwa could neither confirm nor deny the accused’s confession, but rather said it was true that he called a meeting to try to unite people in the community who are fighting for the blood of the accused.
“When the accident occurred, I was not there, and when I returned later, I discovered that there was a tense situation in the village and I called a meeting to try to defuse the situation, through which I urged the community to respect and accept the law.” As one of them and now he can attend some meetings.
“However, I now fear for his safety because people are angry; Who knows what one might think? “I also feel for the affected family and the authorities should help put an end to the matter because they failed to address the matter,” Shunhiwa said.
Another source said that this is not the first time that the accused has been involved in similar cases, as he was summoned and warned by the traditional leader for having an illicit relationship with his nephew’s wife.
The accused is said to live alone as his wife lives in South Africa where she works, and does not visit home frequently.
“The man does not stay with his wife because she lives in South Africa and he rarely comes home. He had an incident last year where he was accused of having an affair with his nephew’s wife and the matter was heard in the village chief’s court, so we never suspected him,” the source said. That he could commit a crime of a similar nature.”
The new details also indicate that there was a key witness in the case, with the witness’s family now living in fear due to the circumstances surrounding the victim’s death.
Another villager said: “There is a key witness in this whole case who saw what happened, but the family is now living in uncertainty for fear that the witness will face the same predicament as the victim.”
However, the villager said some police officers visited the witness’s father after the post wrote the story, saying they had been sent for further investigation, which could be a ray of hope for the affected family, despite uncertainty about how to proceed with the matter. .
Circumstances indicate that on the fateful day, the late Andile Mubedzi returned from school and went to the accused’s house, which was a few hundred meters away from her grandmother’s house, to get some lemons since she had a cold. Upon her arrival, the accused ordered her to enter his house to get the keys to his garden where there were lemons, after which he followed her and raped her.
She then returned home, where she narrated her ordeal to her older sister, who told her grandmother. The entire family was then notified, during which the accused was present. It is said that his confession to the crime was recorded, and he also offered to compensate the victim’s family, but the grandmother refused, and insisted on reporting the matter to the police.
The perpetrator was later arrested but returned home a few days later after being released on bail.
It is alleged that the matter was supposed to proceed by summons, but the family of the deceased claim that the court dates kept changing from then until February this year when they were told that they would appear in court on February 6, which was again postponed to a court session. A date later in the month.
The family said that they suspected that the accused had something to do with the victim’s death, saying that her illness was sudden and very serious as her condition worsened within two days and she unfortunately succumbed to the disease that made her begin to urinate involuntarily in her last days. .
They also claim that on the day before her death, she had been bleeding from her nose for most of the day and the doctor who was supposed to perform the autopsy at Chivi Hospital had to refer the body to Masvingo where the autopsy was performed by a police doctor. .
The grieving family has documents that they believe can also be used as evidence of what happened to Andeel, including the medical report that proved she was raped, documents from which this publication has benefited.
Masvingo-based lawyer Colin Mabuki earlier told TellZim News that under the law, when the victim dies, the case will be closed because there will be no one to testify unless there is additional evidence that can be used to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
“If the victim dies, the case will be closed unless the victim has testified in court and dies before the case is concluded as the judge or magistrate will use the testimony. It can also continue if there is additional evidence that the accused committed the crime,” Mabuki said.
His sentiments were echoed by lawyer Yolanda Chandatta who said that if the victim dies before the matter is heard, there will be no one to testify and thus the case is closed. Telezem News
