Businessman Ishmael Matyenyika accused of raping wife’s younger sister for over 17 years

GRAPHIC details of the rape and indecent assault of a young woman by her brother-in-law, stretching over 17 years, starting when she was only 11, in which she was forced to abort twice, have emerged.

The accused is businessman Ishmael Matyenyika.

He denied the allegations and told the court he was in a romantic relationship with the complainant which turned sour when he discovered that she was lesbian.

Ironically, the complainant said her mother conceived her after she was also raped by her brother-in-law.

She has now found herself in exactly the same circumstances.

She told the court that her sister’s husband has been abusing her since 2007 and forced her to abort two pregnancies.

Matyenyika (47) appeared before Harare regional magistrate, Themba Kuwanda, charged with two counts of rape and aggravated indecent assault.

The State is alleging that sometime in 2007, at around 7am, the complainant, who is now aged 25, went to Matyenyika’s place of residence for a holiday. 

She was 11 at the time.

During the holiday, the complainant’s sister, who is Matyenyika’s wife, would go for school run leaving him and complainant at home. 

On one occasion, Matyenyika invited the complainant into his bedroom where he made her sit on his lap, and forced her to touch his private parts because, he told her,  she was now his new wife who had been given to him by her parents.

This continued to happen on several occasions until 2011 and the complainant did not tell anyone.

On the second charge, the State alleged that sometime in 2011, the complainant was asked to give Matyenyika food in his bedroom and he raped her once. 

The rape continued till in 2014 but the complainant did not disclose this to anyone because she was not very close to her family members. 

She became pregnant, as a result of the rape, and Matyenyika allegedly gave her some tablets to abort the pregnancy.

Later that year, she revealed the rape to her sister’s friend.

The court heard in 2016, the complainant started working for Matyenyika at his restaurant and he would take her  to different lodges and hotels and sexually abuse her.

In 2018, the complainant became pregnant again and was given abortion pills by Matyenyika.

In 2022,complainant became pregnant for the third time and refused to abort the pregnancy.

She gave birth to a baby who was adopted by Social Welfare and is currently under the care of a foster parent

After the birth of the child, the complainant narrated her story to her aunt who tried to resolve the issue.

This is when she filed a police report against Matyenyika.

In her evidence in chief, the complainant told the court that she grew up living a miserable life and her birth was as a result of rape.

She told the court that her biological mother was allegedly raped by her elder sister’s husband and only got to know about it when she was in Form Three.

She told the court that Matyenyika took advantage of her situation and raped her even though she saw him as the only person who truly cared for her.

hmetro