A 27-YEAR-OLD serial rapist who threatened more than 10 women with Satanic attacks before ravaging them was yesterday convicted on 17 counts of rape and robbery by Harare magistrate Hosea Mujaya.
BY NQOBILE NKIWANE
Timothy Musakanya, who initially denied the charges, will be sentenced today.
Musakanya was charged with 22 counts, including assault and attempted rape charges, when he initially appeared in court.
He was acquitted on five counts after the victims failed to testify.
In his defence, Musakanya argued that the victims were his clients who used to borrow money from him and were supposed to pay back with interest.
The rapist told the court that when the “clients” failed to pay him back with interest, he would then confiscate their mobile phones, thus, they were now fabricating evidence so as to punish him.
Musakanya, at one point, argued that his trial became a Press trial as he was already judged by the public when one of his victims was interviewed on radio.
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The presiding magistrate, however, said his judgment was based on evidence given in court which had similar undeniable facts.
Mujaya, however, condemned the radio station for airing an interview based on a court case which was yet to be finalised.
The State had said Musakanya started his abominable habit of harassing women from Norton sometime in September last year until his arrest in February.
It was also the State’s case that on one occasion in November 2015, Musakanya met one complainant’s aunt and claimed that his sister was looking for a girl to work in her Harare shop.
The aunt then referred her 18-year-old niece who met up with Musakanya on the same day.
The court heard the two proceeded to Harare and dropped off at Long Cheng Plaza along the Harare-Bulawayo Road.
At around 3pm, Musakanya started buying time until it got dark, telling the unsuspecting girl he was waiting for his sister to finish work.
Later, he made a phone call and told the girl that his sister said they should go home and wait for her there.
Instead of using public transport, the duo walked for about two hours after Musakanya told the girl that they would still walk a long distance after dropping off a kombi, so it was better to walk and save money.
Along the way as they approached a bushy area, Musakanya told the girl that he was a Satanist before he attacked her from behind, attempting to rape her.
To force her into submission, Musakanya told the girl that he was going to summon his snakes and frogs which would suck her breasts and have sex with her.
He then raped her twice.
After the attack, the court heard, Musakanya robbed the girl of her cellphone and other valuables. Musakanya used the same tricks on different victims all from Norton. The court also heard Musakanya never used protection while raping the victims.
He was arrested after one of the victims saw him walking at some shops in Norton and alerted the police.
