The ManicaPost
Lovemore Kadzura
A 19-YEAR-OLD Form Four student at a school in Makoni District who took advantage of a 16-year-old girl’s drunken state to rape her in full view of their 10 friends at a birthday party last year was convicted of rape and jailed.
The sexual encounter was also recorded by a village herd boy who gate-crushed the party. The video went viral on the social media.
Tinashe Mwanandimai who was represented by Mr Munyaradzi Manyengavana of Chiwanza and Partners had pleaded not guilty and told the court that the girl had consented to the act, but Rusape regional magistrate, Mr Livingstone Chipadza, found him guilty and sentenced him to seven years in prison before setting aside two years on condition of good behaviour.
The two were attending a birthday party for their schoolmate with other eight students, four boys and four girls. They drunk hard spirits at the party which took place during the holiday of August last year when they attending holiday lessons.
In the sex video other pupils could be heard cheering and encouraging Tinashe not to be afraid and perform the intimacy well. The girl later started crying telling Tinashe and friends that the act was painful as she was a virgin.
The matter only came to light when the videos went viral at the school and in the village. The girl’s parents later made a police report leading to Tinashe’s arrest.
In her evidence in court, the girl denied that Tinashe was her boyfriend.
She further said Tinashe took advantage of her drunken state to sexually abuse her as she only came to know of the rape when she was shown the video by the school’s deputy headmaster after some weeks.
“The accused person is not my boyfriend, he was just my schoolmate. I went to the party not knowing there will be boys also. I was drinking a spirit which I was diluting myself and I later got drunk. Some two boys came where I was sitting and forced me to drink more beer.
“I later found myself home, but I do not know how I got there. I only came to know that I was intimate with the accused on September 12, 2016 when the deputy head showed me the video,” said the girl.
Mr Manyengavana told the court that Tinashe never raped the complainant, but the two were lovebirds who attended the party with other school kids who were also lovers. He also said the girl was not too drunk to fail to appreciate what was happening on the day in question.
“Accused and complainant are known lovers at the school and the party was attended by couples only. They were drinking and merry making to the point that they were extremely intoxicated and during this process they became intimate as lovers.
“It is evidently clear from the videos before this court that the complainant was a willing partner in the act.
“During the act, the complainant told the accused person that it was enough and he dully compiled. The complainant the following day contacted the accused person when she heard that their videos were circulating in the villages and it is not true that she came to know of the videos weeks later,” said Mr Manyengavana.
Rusape District prosecutor, Mr Tirivanhu Mutyasira, told the court the accused person took advantage of the victim who was unconscious and raped her.
“Accused and complainant are Form Four students. On August 24, 2016 around 6am, the victim left home going to school. On her way back from school she proceeded to Mutanha Village where she went to attend a birthday party for a friend (name withheld.)
“When the victim arrived at the party the accused was already there and food was prepared. After they finished eating food in the kitchen, they went to the dining room and began to drink spirits diluted with milk and cool drinks. The victim was diluting the beer herself until she got drunk and became unconscious.
“The accused then took advantage of the victim’s condition and became intimate with her without her consent.
“The following morning the victim became conscious and complained of headache, painful thighs and that she was feeling dizzy. She could not recall what had happened.
“The matter came to light when the school headmaster heard by rumours that the victim was sexually abused at the party and they had seen a video that involved the victim being sexually abused. On September 16, the matter was reported to the police leading to the arrest of the accused person,” said Mr Mutyasira.
