Online Reporter
Court Reporter
CHEN Dehu, a 39-year-old Chinese national, has been acquitted by the Harare Magistrates Court after spending 18 months in detention on human trafficking charges.
He was arrested alongside two Zimbabwean accomplices, Joseph Rabson, 44, and Shame Mafido, 57, in October 2023 following allegations that they conspired to traffic three young women—two of them minors—to China for forced marriages.
The case, which drew significant attention, saw the trio accused of recruiting the victims under false pretenses, promising educational and employment opportunities while allegedly intending to marry them off in China.
Prosecutors claimed that Dehu, who had arrived in Zimbabwe on October 3, 2023, specifically for this purpose, worked with Rabson and Mafido—both relatives of the victims—to facilitate the scheme.
The group was accused of altering birth certificates and identity documents to make the underage girls appear older, as China’s legal marriage age is 20.
Authorities arrested the three on October 18, 2023, at a Harare lodge where the purported victims were being housed while travel documents were processed.
The case had been widely publicised, with initial reports framing it as a high-profile human trafficking operation involving foreign exploitation.
However, after a prolonged legal process, during which Chen was detained in custody, the court found insufficient evidence to convict, leading to his acquittal on April 2.
