A 39-year-old man from Plumtree, Bulilima District, Matabeleland South Province, has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the crime of rape after he took advantage of a drunk woman.
The man, who has not been named to protect his victim’s identity, raped a 26-year-old woman whom he had been drinking with at Dingumuzi Bar on 6 April 2024.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the complainant got so drunk that she could not walk. The accused person took advantage of her state of incapacitation and raped her in a secluded area near Dingumuzi bar.
A witness observed the sexual assault and alerted the bar owner, who promptly notified police officers on patrol in the area leading to the accused person’s arrest and subsequent court appearance where he was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
In Zimbabwe, having sexual intercourse without someone hypnotised or intoxicated is criminalised under section 69 (1)(e) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23] which states that a person in such a state cannot consent to the act. It says:
69 (1) Without limiting Part XII of Chapter XIV, a person shall be deemed not to have consented to sexual intercourse or any other act that forms the subject of a charge of rape, aggravated indecent assault or indecent assault, where the person charged with the crime;
(e) has sexual intercourse or performs an indecent act upon the other person while that other person is hypnotised or intoxicated from the consumption of drugs or alcohol so as to be incapable of giving consent to the sexual intercourse or the performance of the act, and that other person has not consented to the sexual intercourse or the performance of the act before becoming so hypnotised or intoxicated.
