John Hope Muchirahondo, a Zimbabwean national, is standing trial in the Christchurch High Court on over 30 charges of s*xual assault, including 22 counts of s3xual violation by rape and 9 counts of s*xual violation by unlawful s*xual connection.
Crown prosecutor Claire Boshier is leading the case against Muchirahondo, who is accused of s*xually assaulting 15 women between 2009 and 2021.
Many of the alleged incidents took place at parties or while the victims were out socializing.
According to Crown prosecutor William Taffs, Muchirahondo is accused of having s3x with the women while they were at varying levels of intoxication, some to the point of vomiting or being unconscious.
In some instances, the women were not even aware that the s3xual acts had taken place until the police showed them pictures and videos.
“In other cases you will hear of them waking up and finding Mr Muchirahondo inside of them,” Taffs told the judge “and going in and out of consciousness, and once of (him) telling them to go back to sleep.”
Some of the complainants, according to the prosecution, knew Muchirahondo well and claim they were coerced or pushed into having s3x with him.
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Anselm Williams, the defense attorney for Muchirahondo, stated in his opening statement that the jury should take his client’s history—which includes having 31 siblings and 13 stepmothers in Zimbabwe—into account while deciding how to charge him.
In 2008, at the age of 22, Muchirahondo relocated to New Zealand. According to Williams, he acknowledges that he had intercourse with some of the complainants, but he felt there was consent or a reasonable belief in consent.
Today’s trial heard testimony from the first woman to file a complaint in 2021. An tearful phone she made to the police, saying she woke up to Muchirahondo having s3x with her and didn’t want her mother to know she had been raped, was recorded and played for the court.
More evidence is anticipated to be presented in the next few days during the current trial.
