adminZvikomborero Parafini
Two Hopley men appeared in court over the weekend on rape and robbery charges.
Frank Mafati and Tinashe Maruta were not asked to plead when they appeared in the Harare Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.
The court heard that on January 28, a 20-year-old woman from Whitecliffe alighted from a vehicle at the Whitehouse shops and took shelter at a nearby bus stop as it was raining at around 7pm.
The two men were standing near the bus stop and the woman asked for a plastic bag to protect her phone from the rain.
It stopped raining about 30 minutes later and the woman walked home.
The two men followed her and one of them produced a pistol and pulled her to his accomplice.
The other man also pulled out a pistol and they dragged her into a maize field where they ordered her to lie on the ground and surrender all her belongings.
She surrendered her phone and US$20.
They then took turns to rape her and disappeared into the night.
The woman reported the matter to the police.
On the second count, Gift Muponda, 44, picked up his 19-year-old girlfriend from Kuwadzana and went on a road trip.
The couple drove past Whitehouse towards Lake Chivero and pulled off into a maize field.
The couple then sat in the back seat and they were approached by Mafati and Maruta, who were putting on face masks.
They knocked on the window and ordered Muponda to open the door, but he refused.
Infuriated, one of the two men smashed the driver’s window and demanded money and valuables.
They took Muponda’s phone and US$120, and one of the thugs shot him on the right thigh before dragging his girlfriend into a bush where they gang raped her.
They tied the couple with a rope and left.
The girl managed to untie herself and sought help at the main road as her boyfriend couldn’t drive after being shot.
A well-wisher drove them to ZRP Marimba to make a report.
On February 7, another Whitecliffe couple was going home from work when the duo confronted them along a footpath wielding a machete and a pistol.
The robbers allegedly ordered the couple to lie down and remove their clothes.
They moved the couple into abandoned premises where they stole their belongings before tying their limbs.
They gang raped the woman and left. The couple managed to untie themselves and reported the matter to the police.
Online Reporter