A 20-year-old Upper Six pupil at a local college has been arraigned before the courts for allegedly raping a Form 1 pupil after dragging her to a secluded place while she was on her way to the dining hall.

The pupil (name withheld), who is a prefect at the college, allegedly saw the girl on her way to the college dining hall while seated at the tuckshop benches.

He greeted her and she answered back before he moved to grab her by the wrist and dragged her to the back of the junior girls’ toilets.

The incident allegedly took place on July 24, 2016 at around 3pm, but the matter came to light in September after the girl, who alleges she was a victim of bullying at the college, ran away from school.

Upon her return, she allegedly narrated her ordeal at the hands of the senior college pupil to her friend after being asked why she went awol.

The pupil has since appeared before Chinhoyi regional Magistrate Mr Amos Mbobo for trial on allegations of rape in contravention of Section 65 (i) (a) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform)Act.

He allegedly forcibly removed the girl’s T-shirt before raping her once and threatening to make her life miserable at the college if she told anyone. The girl allegedly tried to scream but the pupil is said to have punched her mouth with his loose hand.

The trial has since opened with the State calling the girl as the first witness and she told the court that she took long to report the matter because she was afraid of the prefect’s threats.

She says she was also traumatised by the bullying she suffered at the hands of some pupils at the college and was not prepared to endure similar treatment at the hands of prefects.

Mr Lucky Dube is appearing for the State.