The ManicaPost
A CHIPINGE grinding mill attendant was on Tuesday hauled before the courts for locking a teenager in the grinding mill while demanding sex from her.
Douglas Sithole (20) appeared before Chipinge magistrate Mr Clemence Ngweshiwa facing indecent assault charges. Sithole pleaded not guilty and was remanded to Monday for
sentencing.
In his defence, Sithole said he did not intend to rape the complainant in the grinding mill, but wanted her to accept a love proposal from his friend, Daniel Makuyana.
“Your Worship, I deny what the complainant is saying. I can admit that I locked her in the grinding mill, but I did this to assist my friend. It is not true that I tried to rape her.
What I know is that the girl arrived at the grinding mill at around 7pm and saw me sitting inside the grinding mill with my friend.
“It is my friend, Daniel Makuyana, who was interested in her and I only assisted him to propose love to the complainant. When she arrived I locked the grinding mill and left the two inside the grinding mill. I don’t know what happened between the two as I had left. I was surprised to see the complainant’s mother coming to my workplace the following morning interrogating me about the issue. There was an exchange of words resulting in the mother making a police report,” he said. Testifying before the court, the complainant gave incriminating evidence against Sithole.
She said she was locked in the grinding mill for two hours by Sithole who intended to rape her.
“Your Worship, the accused dragged me and pulled my skirt up. He tried to insert his private parts between my legs while fondling my breasts. I asked him to release me, but he refused. I screamed, but no one came to my rescue. He said he would only release me after I accepted his love proposal. He proposed love to me several times, but I turned him down,” she said.
Prosecuting, Ms Edith Phiri told the court that on January 14, the complainant went to Mtisi Grinding Mill in Mutema to have her maize ground.
“At the mill she met Douglas Sithole who was employed at the grinding mill. When the complainant entered the grinding mill, the accused started proposing love to her and she turned him down. The accused person started fondling the complainant’s breasts and her back without her consent. The accused screamed but no one came to rescue her.
The accused later released her.
