Trial date set for Macheke parents

THE trial of a Macheke couple facing allegations of raping and sexually assaulting their two children, a girl aged 8 and a boy aged 11, is expected to start on Wednesday next week.

Initially, the trial had been scheduled to start on Wednesday, but the couple asked for more time to seek legal representation.

The father is facing rape charges, while his wife is facing charges of aggravated indecent assault. They appeared before Marondera magistrate Mr Ignatius Mhene yesterday.

Allegations are that in January this year, the father was at home at a farm in Macheke with his daughter aged 8, and he ordered her into his bedroom and allegedly raped her once.

During the assault, his wife came in and asked what he was doing, and he stopped. The court also heard that last year, at the same farm, the mother ordered the son aged 11 into her bedroom and then allegedly indecently assaulted him.

When the two visited their uncle in Mudzi and were caught being intimate, the little girl revealed that her father had raped her. The boy is alleged to have also revealed that his mother had sexually assaulted him once.

Ms Barbara Mabika and Ms Zvikomborero Chidavaenzi prosecuted.