A 40-YEAR-OLD man from Harare has walked free from court after rape charges against him were withdrawn before plea.
This follows submissions by the prosecution that he had been mistakenly fingered by the complainant as the suspect.
Tarauke Mpombwe was awaiting trial on allegations of raping his 17-year-old neighbour but just before the start of the trial on Monday, the State withdrew charges against him owing to a case of mistaken identity by the complainant.
The complainant was raped at knife point on December 8 last year, at around 1 am, by a man dressed only in a jacket who smashed open the door to her house, made sure the lights were out, and forced children in the same room to cover their heads.
The following day, the complainant went back home and narrated her story to a co-tenant who then accompanied her to the police leading to Mpombwe’s arrest. However, it was later established that Mpombwe had been mistakenly identified as the rapist.
