
Graphic details have emerged of the rape and indecent assault of a young woman by her brother-in-law, over a period of 17 years, starting when she was just 11, during which she was forced to have two abortions.
The accused is businessman Ismail Matenyika.
He denied the allegations and told the court that he had been in a romantic relationship with the complainant which worsened when he discovered she was gay.
Ironically, the complainant said that her mother impregnated her after her brother-in-law also raped her.
She now found herself in exactly the same circumstances.
She told the court that her sister’s husband had been mistreating her since 2007 and forced her to abort two pregnancies.
Matenyika (47) appeared before Harare Regional Magistrate, Themba Kwanda, charged with two counts of rape and indecent assault.
The State alleges that sometime in 2007, at approximately 7 a.m., the complainant, who is now 25 years old, went to Matineyka’s residence for a holiday.
She was 11 years old at the time.
During the holiday, the complainant’s sister, Matenika’s wife, would go to school and leave him and the complainant at home.
On one occasion, Matenyika invited the complainant to his bedroom where he made her sit on his lap and forced her to touch his genitals because, as he told her, she was now his new wife given to him by her parents.
This continued several times until 2011 and the complainant did not tell anyone.
In the second count, the State alleged that at some point in 2011, the complainant was asked to serve food to Matinika in his bedroom and he raped her once.
The rape continued until 2014 but the complainant did not disclose this to anyone because she was not very close to her family members.
She became pregnant as a result of the rape, and Matinika allegedly gave her some pills to abort the pregnancy.
Later that year, she revealed that she had raped her sister’s friend.
The court heard in 2016 that the complainant began working for Matinika at his restaurant and would take her to various hostels and hotels and sexually assault her.
In 2018, the complainant became pregnant again and Matenyika gave her abortion pills.
In 2022, the complainant became pregnant for the third time and refused to abort the pregnancy.
She gave birth to a child who was adopted into welfare and is currently in the care of a foster parent
After the baby was born, the complainant told her story to her aunt, who tried to solve the problem.
That’s when she filed a police report against Matenyika.
In her evidence-in-chief, the complainant told the court that she had grown up living a miserable life and that her birth had been the result of rape.
She told the court that her biological mother was raped by her older sister’s husband and she only learned about it when she was in the third grade.
She told the court that Matinika took advantage of her situation and raped her even though she saw him as the only person who truly cared for her. h metro