A harrowing tale of betrayal, abuse, and the devastating impact of a broken promise has unfolded in the Harare Civil Court, where a young University of Zimbabwe graduate is seeking justice against her former boyfriend, Tatenda Parwaingira, H-Metro has reported.
The woman, who works for a leading company in the country, alleges that she was seduced into a relationship with Parwaingira and lost her virginity to him under violent and coercive circumstances. In court papers, she paints a chilling picture of the events that transpired on the first day she visited Parwaingira at his home in Harare.
“He forcefully pushed me on his bed, and I tried to wrestle him to free myself, but he proved more powerful than me. I was subdued, he tore my underpants and forced himself on me,” she states in the court documents. “I struggled and struggled until I became powerless. I started crying, and he kept on saying ‘keep quiet, keep quiet, people are going to hear what we are doing,’ and he put his hand on my mouth. In the process, he deflowered me, and there was blood on his coloured bed. I was so helpless and hopeless, to say the least. I told him that I was going to inform my relatives and possibly make a police report.”
The woman recounts that Parwaingira, upon hearing her threat, expressed remorse and, in his own words, “said, ‘don’t you see that you are very beautiful and you are a wife material please don’t take any action because I’m promising you that I will marry you.'”
“I just remained quiet,” she continues, “and he then offered to take me to my place of residence. Along the way, tears were coming out of my eyes, and he kept on saying ‘my wife please, please don’t worry I’m your husband.’ The way he expressed it to me, I was convinced that what he had done, he had done it with the intention to marry me. He later dropped me off at my place.”
The promise of marriage, however, proved to be a cruel deception. The woman claims that she endured a period of abuse during their relationship before Parwaingira eventually abandoned her.
Seeking redress, she first approached Chief Seke’s traditional court, where Parwaingira was found guilty of using the woman as a “SEX object.” Chief Seke’s judgment ordered the woman to seek damages from Parwaingira in the Harare Civil Court.
The Civil Court documents further detail the woman’s ordeal, highlighting the loss of her virginity under duress and the subsequent broken promise of marriage.
“The defendant then promised that he would marry the plaintiff and hence there was no need to be worried about the loss of her virginity or being late to go back home to her parents. Plaintiff accepted the promise,” the court documents state.
The woman, believing Parwaingira’s promise, returned to his home, only to be later moved to the homes of his relatives as he allegedly “finalised the marriage plans.”
“Plaintiff was later taken to stay with defendant’s sister after his uncle had decided to withdraw from the issue citing defendant’s lack of commitment to fulfilling his promise to marry plaintiff,” the documents state.
The court documents further allege that Parwaingira, despite his initial promises, ultimately reneged on his commitment to marriage, leaving the woman devastated and seeking compensation for the emotional and psychological trauma she has endured.
“As a result of being seduced into pre-marital sex resulting in the loss of her virginity the plaintiff suffered damages which she is entitled to claim from defendant. Furthermore, and distinct from the above claim, the plaintiff also suffered damages for breach of promise to marry as a result of the actual expenditure she encountered as a result of the breach of promise and the contumelia she encountered as a result of such breach,” the court documents read.
The woman is seeking US$5,000 in seduction damages and US$10,000 in general damages for breach of promise to marry.
