‘Rapist robber’ granted bail
THE High Court has granted $200 bail to a Bulawayo man accused of raping his neighbour who is twice his age until she passed out and robbing her of a handbag containing money and a cellphone.
The woman regained consciousness minutes later and found herself naked with her blood stained undergarments by her side.
Bekithemba Nkomo (23) of Trenance suburb is alleged to have raped the woman moments after they both disembarked from a pirate taxi. Nkomo is facing rape and robbery charges. The ruling by Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nokuthula Moyo follows an application for bail pending trial by Nkomo, through his lawyers Tanaka Law Chambers, citing the State as a respondent.
As part of the bail conditions, Nkomo was ordered not interfere with witnesses and to reside at his given address until the matter is finalised.
In his bail statement, Nkomo is denying the charges, arguing that he was not at the scene of the crime at the time.
“Pertinent and more important is that nothing which belonged to the complainant was found in my possession. There is nothing which links me to the offence as the State has proffered pre-suppositions and baseless assumptions,” he argued.
The State, which was being represented by Mr Kudakwashe Jaravaza, did not oppose the application, saying Nkomo was not likely to abscond if granted bail despite the seriousness of the offence.
“In casu, it is submitted that the applicant faces a serious offence, however, the seriousness of the offence alone is not enough to deny an accused person bail. It is therefore submitted that from the circumstances surrounding this particular matter and DNA results still outstanding, this matter might be a case of mistaken identity. It is actually reasonable to infer that the complainant might have been sexually abused by someone else other than the applicant and the State prays that the application for bail pending trial succeeds,” said Mr Jaravaza.
Allegations are that on March 14 at around 8PM, Nkomo boarded a pirating Honda Fit vehicle with the complainant in the city centre to Trenance suburb.
They both disembarked from the vehicle at corner Shillow and Richard Road in Trenance and started walking together to their respective homes. Along the way, Nkomo is said to have told the woman that he had arrived at his home and he made a turn and the victim proceeded walking alone.
The complainant continued walking towards her home before she was attacked from behind by a man who throttled her with a red piece of cloth.
Nkomo allegedly raped the woman until she lost consciousness before robbing her of R100, a purse which had a Samsung Galaxy cellphone, R117 and RTGS$5. Before she fell unconscious, the woman said she managed to identify her assailant by his red T-shirt which made her believe it was the same man that she had boarded a taxi with who attacked her.
When she regained consciousness, the woman found herself naked and her blood stained undergarments were beside her. She reported the matter to the police leading to Nkomo’s arrest. — @mashnets