A HARARE based Chinese investor raped his 17-year-old housemaid for months without protection promising to take her to China was Wednesday hauled before the courts.

The 61-year-old Li Qiang appeared before Harare magistrate, Judith Taruvinga who denied him bail.

The businessman was not asked to plead.

While at the courts, Li was also arrested by immigration officers for breaching his conditions of staying in Zimbabwe.

According to prosecutors, the abuse started in September last year.

The court heard one day around 7 am, the complainant was cleaning Li’s bedroom when he entered and locked the door.

“While in the room, he pushed her onto the bed and told her that he wanted to have sexual intercourse with her,” reads the state outline.

The court heard that she refused.

Qiang then promised to take the complainant to China before he forcibly removed her clothes and rap_ed her without protection.

The court heard that after the incident he asked the complainant to stay at his residence.

One night she refused to open the door and he threatened to fire her from work if she failed to open the door for him. Following this incident, he would rape her on different occasions.

The matter came to light when the complainant visited her grandmother and told her what had happened.