A 22-year-old man accused of raping a woman who later fell pregnant and gave birth to twins has denied the allegations, arguing that he could not have raped her because he openly gave her his personal details after the encounter.
Davies Kawala, who is jointly charged with his friend Elias Zulu (27), told the Lusaka Magistrate Court that it made no sense for him to be accused of rape after spending several hours with the alleged victim.
“I wouldn’t have given her my details [about my workplace] if I had raped her,” Kawala told Lusaka Magistrate Kawama Mwamfuli.
Kawala and Zulu are accused of raping an 18-year-old woman, identified only as Talisa (not her real name), on October 31, 2024. It is alleged that the two men were escorting her home but later turned against her in Bauleni Township, near the Zambia Air Force (ZAF) perimeter wall.
The duo denied wrongdoing but were found with a case to answer.
In their defence, the accused claimed Talisa was allegedly blackmailing them, arguing that she had offered to have sex with them in exchange for K300 each, totalling K600. However, the prosecution, led by Senior State Advocate Monde Chizongo, dismissed their defence as a “fake story.”
Kawala testified that on the day in question, Talisa and her friend, Maureen (pseudonym), approached them at a shop in Bauleni after 19:00 hours. According to him, Maureen told them Talisa needed help borrowing K300 from shop owners. When their attempts failed, Maureen reportedly left and asked them to escort Talisa home.
Kawala told the court that the situation later changed and Talisa allegedly suggested they have sex, even proposing the location.
“She took us to the fence for ZAF, she lay and undressed herself. While I had sex with her, she told me she was afraid of getting pregnant,” Kawala testified.
He further claimed that after the act, Talisa dressed up and he escorted her home, adding that she later insisted he become her boyfriend.
“She said since my friend (Elias) ran away, I would be her boyfriend. I gave her my full details and where I work and where I am found. We were together for about three hours,” he said.
The court also heard that Kawala had allegedly agreed to pay Talisa the K600, but he was arrested two days before the payment date.
“I didn’t pay her because we delayed to receive salaries,” Kawala said.
The matter is scheduled for judgment on April 13.
Source: Zambia Daily Mail
