By Decide Nhendo
A Masvingo man based at an agricultural institute in the province, who was accused of fondling his 10-year-old step daughter is lucky to be a free man after Masvingo Regional Magistrate Bishard Chineka acquitted him on indecent assault charges for lack of tangible evidence.
The man who cannot be named to protect the victim had pleaded not guilty to the charges and said the complainant’s mother, fabricated the case since they were having conflicts at home.
The state led by Innocent Mudzingwa alleges that sometime in December 2023, at around 1400hrs, the accused was left together with the complainant when the complainant’s mother was away from home while her young brother was playing outside and accused gave the complainant snacks and proceeded to molest her before instructing her not to tell anyone.
It is also alleged that in early January 2023, the accused was left alone with the complainant and took the chance to sexually assault her, and told her not to disclose the matter to anyone.
The matter came to light on January 9, 2023 when the complainant told her grandmother that her step father was sexually abusing her.
The grandmother together with the complainant’s mother went to report the matter to Masvingo Rural Police Station, leading to the arrest of the complainant on January 10.
