HARARE – A Chipinge Public Prosecutor and a lawyer have landed in the dock for allegedly conniving to alter a rape accused man’s rape charge to a lesser offence.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, Public Prosecutor Timothy Katsande, 34, and lawyer Benjamin Basikiti, 35, “connived to construct a statement of agreed facts with an altered statement from the victim in a rape matter which was set down for trial on the 15th of January 2025”.
“The first accused person was prosecuting whilst the second accused person represented the accused person in the rape matter.
“They allegedly altered and misrepresented the statement of agreed facts to reduce the charge to ‘having sexual intercourse with a child’,” said the NPA in a Monday report.
For their alleged misdeeds, the two court officials appeared in court facing obstruction of justice charges.
They were both granted US$100 bail and will be back in court on the 25 April 2025 for trial.
