A MAN of no fixed abode, allegedly lured a nine-year-old Makokoba girl to West Park Cemetery in Bulawayo, where he is said to have raped her once before choking and leaving her unconscious, a court heard yesterday.
Elias Siampande (63) originally from Binga, was not asked to plead to the rape charge when he appeared before Bulawayo senior magistrate Sibongile Msipa Marondedze yesterday.
The magistrate remanded him in custody to January 20th.
The court heard that on December 27th last year at 5pm, Siampande met the girl at the canteen gate of MaDlodlo Beer Garden in Makokoba, where she was coming from her mother’s kitchen.
He asked her to assist him to carry his loaves of bread from his house and she agreed.
It is the State’s case, that instead of going to the said house, he led the girl to a bushy area near West Park Cemetery, where he pushed her to the ground before stripping off her pants and raping her once.
The girl screamed, but Siampande choked her until she fell unconscious before leaving her there.
The girl later gained consciousness and looked for her clothes, but could not find them.
She then wrapped a jersey around her body and walked towards Makokoba, where she met Sibonisiwe Dube, who accompanied her to her home.
They met the girl’s mother, who was already looking for her and the child narrated her ordeal.
The mother then reported the matter to the police at Mzilikazi.
Siampande was arrested on January 4 2015 in Lobengula at MaMkhwananzi beer garden. – SouthernEye