… Chivi rape victim dies before court finalises case
…family wants closure as suspect walks free
By Brighton Chiseva
Martin Luther King Jr used the phrase, “Justice too long delayed is justice denied,” in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, smuggled out of prison in 1963, ascribing it to “one of our distinguished jurists”. Luther’s statement resonates well with what a Chivi family is going through right now after their 14-year-old girl who was a rape victim died barely three months after the ordeal, before the matter went to trial in court.
With broken hearts, the family said if the case had been heard in court in time it could have at least brought peace to their hearts, as they are now left with no closure after losing their child before she testified against her 63-year-old aggressor.
They say the perpetrator, who also happens to be a relative and neighbor pleaded guilty before a meeting convened by the village head soon after the matter came to light back in October last year.
Their bone of contention is that the matter was not closed satisfactorily when they came to court after the victim died mysteriously and they were casually told the case was closed, with noone caring to explain to them how that came to be.
The family also claim they recorded the accused’s testimony as the matter was being heard before the village head, who could also be a witness together with many others present on that day when the 63-year-old perpetrator admitted to the crime.
The victim’s uncle, Innocent Mupedzi said they are in a state of confusion but what pains them the most is how his niece’s health suddenly deteriorated after the perpetrator was granted bail and she sadly died before she got justice.
“My niece Andile was raped on October 13 2023 but until the time of her death on February 16, 2024, the case had not progressed meaningfully in court. She died only seven days before the date she was supposed to appear in court to testify against her perpetrator.
“What shocked the family also is how the investigating officer and the prosecutor reacted to the news of the demise of the girl which the family says came as a piercing dagger in their hearts.
“When I called the investigating officer at Mashava Police station, she simply said the accused is now a free man. The same statement was also repeated by the prosecutor,” said Innocent Mupedzi.
The grieving uncle to the deceased also had in his possession documents that he said could also be used as proof to what had happened to Andile, including the medical report that proved she was raped, and other medical reports which he showed this publication.
He also insisted that he has a strong conviction that his niece’s death is strongly related to the rape ordeal, which was giving him sleepless nights as he has to deal with a concoction of emotions because Andile can no longer narrate what happened both after the rape and after the perpetrator was granted bail.
Contacted for comment, the prosecutor who was dealing with the case Liberty Hove said he was not allowed to comment to the media and referred questions to his bosses.
Efforts to get a comment from the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) spokesperson Daniel Nemukuyu and JSC secretary Walter Chikwanha were futile as their mobile phones went unanswered for several days.
However, sources within the prosecuting authority said if the incident had happened in October, there was no delay because the regional magistrate’s court is still trying a number of cases from last year since all rape cases are tried at Masvingo Regional Court.
“If it was supposed to appear in February then it was not delayed, the initial appearance should have happened in Chivi before it was referred to the regional court since it deals with all rape cases from the Province so there will be a backlog. Right now the court is dealing with some cases that happened even before that one,” said the source.
“What happened is, on the fateful day, the victim came back from school and went to the accused’s place with the intention of getting some lemons for since she had flue. Upon arrival, the accused instructed her to go into his house to collect keys to his garden where the lemons were.
Circumstances around the girl’s rape were that on the fateful day, she went to the elderly perpetrator’s home, which is about 500metres away from her home to look for lemons since she had a flu.
The perpetrator is believed to have asked her to go into a hut at the homestead to look for keys, after which he followed her.
“When she got into the house, the accused followed him and raped her inside the hut before threatening her with unspecified action. She then went back and home where she narrated her ordeal to her sister who told their grandmother.
“The whole family was involved, where the accused was also present and was recorded admitting to the crime, after which it was reported to police leading to the perpetrator’s arrest. However, after a few days he returned home and we all thought he was out on bail and although we were uncomfortable with it, we just thought we were going to meet in court,” said Mupedzi.
Mupedzi says the perpetrator’s return may have traumatized the victim but they had no option but to wait for the court dates although they knew how it probably troubled Andile so much.
The matter was allegedly supposed to continue by way of summons but the deceased’s family claims that the court dates kept on shifting from then until February this year when they were told that they were going to attend court on February 6, which was again postponed to a later date in the month.
“The matter was postponed for a number of times with the prosecution saying there was missing paper work or at times they would say the accused’s lawyer had another case hence they could not proceed,” said another family member.
The family said they suspect that the accused had something to do with the demise of the victim saying her illness was so drastic as she got worse within 2 days and sadly succumbed to the illness which saw her starting to bed wet in her last days.
They also claim that the day before she died, she bled from the nose most of the day and the doctor who was supposed to do post mortem at Chivi Hospital had to refer the body to Masvingo where the autopsy was done by then police doctor.
“We suspect the use of juju (black magic) to derail the court processes until the time of the victim’s death or that the accused could have bribed someone to delay the court processes whilst he was working on possible ways of silencing the victim once and for all,” yet another grieving close relative said.
Masvingo based lawyer Advocate Collen Maboke said legally when the victim dies the case will be closed because there will be no one to testify unless there was extra evidence that could be used to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
“If the victim dies then the case will be closed unless if the victim had testified in court and dies before the case is finalized where the magistrate or judge will use the testimony. It can also continue if there is extra evidence that the accused really committed the crime,” said Maboke.
Same sentiments were echoed by Advocate Yolanda Chandata who said if the victim dies before the matter is heard then there won’t be anyone to testify so the case is then closed.
