A MAN from Bulawayo suspected of using umubobobo and indecently assaulting a woman who was queueing at a shop by rubbing his sexual organ on her buttocks, was yesterday sentenced to nine months in jail. Bulawayo magistrate Charity Maphosa convicted Meluleki Moyo, 27, of Morningside suburb, of indecent assault due to overwhelming evidence. The magistrate suspended four months from Moyo’s sentence for five years on condition that he does not within that period commit a similar crime.
He will serve an effective five months in prison. In passing sentence, Maphosa said Moyo’s conduct was morally deplorable and described him as a social misfit who was an embarrassment to himself and society and hence deserved a custodial sentence.
Prosecuting, Kudakwashe Jaravaza said on March 17 this year shortly after 5.30PM, the complainant and her sister were standing in a queue at a shop situated between 6th Avenue and Lobengula Street in Bulawayo’s central business district.
The court heard that Moyo, who was standing behind the complainant, unzipped his pair of trousers, pulled out his manhood and rubbed it on the woman’s buttocks without her knowledge.
Moyo was spotted by a shop employee who then alerted the complainant. “When the complainant turned her back she saw Moyo in the process of zipping his trousers while his organ was still protruding and she screamed for help,” said Jaravaza.
A security guard, who testified in court, said he initially thought that Moyo had stolen from the woman when she screamed. Moyo, in his defence, denied indecently assaulting the complainant, arguing that she was framing him.
In mitigation, Moyo, who is not married and has no children, pleaded for leniency, saying he was looking after his mother and siblings. State Media