We are dating: Man denies bedding neighbour’s wife by mistake

HARARE: In a new twist of events, a man who is accused of ra_ping his housemate’s unsuspecting wife yesterday denied the allegations and insisted that he had a love affair with the woman.

Nkosilathi Sibanda (27) is alleged to have tiptoed from his bedroom while undressed in the wee hours and got into the woman’s blankets under the cover of darkness. It is the State’s case that the accused started care_ssing and kis_sing his victim before ra_ping her.

When the trial opened yesterday before magistrate Mr Hosiah Mujaya, Sibanda, through his lawyer Mr Tapiwa Makanza, told the court that the woman fabricated the ra_pe charges to save her marriage.

He denied engaging in with the woman, saying they only cuddled and she stopped him before they could be intimate.

“On the day in question, he simply kis_sed and cuddled her with her consent,” said Mr Makanza.

“While cuddling, the complainant came back to her senses and told him to stop.

“These allegations are trumped up since complainant is married, it is a way to cover up that they were not just housemates. It was not a fully fledged affair, but something was going on. They were in the process of getting into a relationship.” On the other hand, the woman insisted that Sibanda ra_ped her.

She said they had been sharing the three-bedroomed flat since last year, with another lady identified as Mirriam occupying the third bedroom. She told the court that Sibanda lived alone. The victim said she became aware that it was not her husband when Sibanda pen_trated her, adding that his man_hood was different from that of her husband.

“I was awakened by a touching sensation at around 3am and since I was expecting my husband home, I thought it was him and I responded,” she said.

The woman said she rushed to Miriam’s room and told her what had happened before calling her relatives who then rushed to the flat. Prosecutor Mr Timothy Makoni asked the woman to tell the court how she managed to know that Sibanda’s man_hood was not that of her husband. She was at pains to answer the question before requesting to have the gallery cleared. The matter continued behind closed doors. state media