A 28-year-old man residing at Baghdad, Empumalanga in Hwange was on Thursday acquitted of rape charges by magistrate Mr Mark Dzira at the Hwange magistrates court.

Leon Msumba was facing one count of rape in which he was alleged to have raped his friend’s three-year-old daughter. However, he was acquitted after regional magistrate Mr Dzira said the State found the evidence unreliable.

Allegations against Msumba were that on 23 December at around 2pm, he visited the complainant’s mother and later spent the night. At a time, unknown to the complainant’s mother, the accused was alleged to have sexually assaulted the child who had slept besides the accused person in the kitchen. The court heard that on the day in question, six male figures went in and out of the complainant’s house.

The complainant’s mother also left her daughter for about two hours to escort her boyfriend who had visited, leaving the child with two unnamed men in the house.

Presenting his judgement, magistrate Dzira said the state failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused, leading to his acquittal.-state media