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Martha Leboho Masvingo correspondent
Popular Masvingo musician Emmanuel Chibi, who is affectionately known as Uncle Jaunda by his fans, has been cleared of raping his niece two years ago.

Uncle Jaunda (44) was last week acquitted by Masvingo regional magistrate Mrs Dambudzo Malunga who ruled that the State’s case was weak because the complainant took long to report the matter to police.

It was alleged that sometime in April 2016, Uncle Jaunda who at one time hogged the musical limelight with his hit song, “Deception’’ returned home from work with a can of Coca Cola.

According to the State led by Mr Liberty Hove, Uncle Jaunda was alleged to have opened the can and given it to his niece, then aged 22.

The niece was alleged to have drank the coke but started feeling dizzy and weak after finishing the contents.

She was alleged to have notified Uncle Jaunda about her condition before the latter allegedly took her to her bedroom where he became intimate with her without her permission. Uncle Jaunda was said to have apologised to his niece for sleeping with her when she eventually regained consciousness before telling her not to reveal what had happened to anyone.

Sometime in January last year, Uncle Jaunda was accused of having pounced on his niece again after finding her alone at their house and raped her once after giving her fresh chips and a Nokia Usher mobile phone.