Zvikomborero Parafini
FORMER Windmill chief executive, George Rundogo, who had been charged with raping his girlfriend’s daughter, was yesterday acquitted.
The court granted his application for discharge at the close of the State’s case.
Rundogo had been accused of repeatedly raping the minor girl and bribing her with sweets.
In her ruling, magistrate Loice Mukunyadze said the complainant gave conflicting accounts of the alleged rape and the State ended up failing to prove its case.
“The complainant gave conflicting versions of how she was raped and while the court is cognisant of the fact that she is a minor, her testimony had too many inconsistencies.
“She told the police that she was raped twice by the accused and admitted that she had sexual intercourse with two other boys.
“The matter came to light when she was tested and found to be HIV positive.
“The law is very clear that complainants must make a free and voluntary report, which was not the case in this matter.
“She only reported the matter after she was found HIV positive and while the complainant is a young child, and her evidence must be treated with caution, at first she even denied having had sexual intercourse with anyone at all.
“Her testimony was hard to believe because she told different versions to different people and it would be improper to put the accused to his defence,” magistrate Mukunyadze said.
Rundogo, who was represented by Dumisani Mthombeni, had denied the allegations, stating that he considered the minor as his daughter because her mother was once his girlfriend.
He also told the court that it boggled his mind why he was being falsely accused of raping the girl as he had previously been accused of similar allegations, but found innocent.
He further told the court that while he may not have direct evidence, he suspected that someone influenced both complainants to deliberately make these false allegations against him.
He further showed his HIV negative results in court and claimed that he would have contracted the virus if he had raped the child.
He claimed he had evidence that she has been unwell from a tender age.