IMBALI (14) HELD HOSTAGE FOR NINE DAYS, RAPED
MANZINI – A maiden who went missing after they were dispersed at the recently concluded reed dance has told her story of rape and how she was kept in an abandoned house in Matsapha by an alleged rapist.
The imbali member, who had been missing for nine days after attending the reed dance, was found by her father near The George Hotel in Manzini in the company of two men.
She alleged that she had been kept in a locked house in Matsapha and was allegedly raped by one of the men.
Speaking through her father at the Manzini Magistrates Court, where the case was heard and after recording a statement with the police, the father alleged that he found his 14-year-old daughter nine days after he had reported her missing.
The alleged rapist, Philangenkhosi Matse, 33, pleaded guilty to the charge of rape in that he contravened the Girls and Women’s Protection Act by having unlawful sexual intercourse with the minor.
The suspect, who was handed over to the police by the girl’s father, appeared before Magistrate Dumisa Mazibuko yesterday.
Narrating the matter in court, the girl’s father, who will not be named to protect the identity of the maiden, said his daughter disappeared on the day Imbali members were dispersed.
He alleged that upon realising that his daughter had not returned home, he reported the matter to the police.
“I also went to the Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Services (SBIS) to put in an announcement about my missing daughter. While the announcement was being aired on the national radio, I continued looking for her around Lobamba, Mahlanya and surrounding areas. However, my efforts were in vain as I failed to locate her. Exactly nine days after her disappearance and while I was passing by The George Hotel in Manzini, I saw her standing next to the hotel with two men,” the father informed the court when leading evidence.
The father further said he approached the men and later ordered them to board his vehicle, which they duly obliged to.
He submitted that he took them to the police station as the matter had been already reported. He added that the police questioned the men and his daughter before arresting the suspect.
“The police then gave me a medical form to take with me to hospital and my daughter to get a medical report. When I questioned her on how she was raped, she informed me that she got stranded as there was no transport back home. She said she met up with a friend who took her to a certain house in Matsapha, where the rape incident occurred,” the father alleged.
The father said the suspect then led him, together with the police, to a house situated near Mathangeni in Matsapha.
No one was in the house at the time of their arrival, according to the father.
He alleged that his daughter informed him that she was locked up in one of the bedrooms in the said house.
She is said to have tried to escape by banging the burglar door with an object.
However, Matse is said to have arrived and ordered her to another bedroom where he allegedly raped her.
“As far as I know, there was no relationship between the two of them, my daughter was raped. I suspect that on the day I found her, he was done with her and ordered her to leave without giving her bus fare,” the father further alleged.
The matter continues as Matse is yet to be cross-examined.
The reed dance started on August 26, 2014 and ended on September 1, 2014.
However, the maidens, who were close to 80 000 in number, were officially dispersed on Tuesday, September 2 and given various items such as meat and school bags as presents.
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