The suspect, Nhlanhla Dlamini, becomes the first man to face the law over marital r.a.p.e in the Southern Africa nation.
AFP reports that police relied on the 2018 Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence (SODV) Act, which criminalises non-consensual s3x between a husband and wife, to arrest and charge Dlamini.
He was on Tuesday granted R50,000 (Ksh351, 000) bail by the High Court in the capital Mbabane and is set to appear again in court over the next few weeks.
“It’s the first one (case) to be recorded and be heard in open court,” Swaziland Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) spokeswoman, Slindelo Nkosi, told AFP.
First-time offenders are likely to be sentenced to up to 20 years in jail, while repeat r3pists can get up to 30 years.
