daniel chigunwe
George Maponga in Masvingo
A Masvingo panel beater who stormed a house where Great Zimbabwe University female students were sleeping before robbing them of cash and raping one of them after threatening his victims with a machete has been jailed for 40 years by a Masvingo regional magistrate.
Regional magistrate Mr Bishard Chineka jailed Tinashe Chirume(40) of Pangolin suburb, for an effective 40 years behind bars after convicting him of robbery and rape at the end of a full trial due to overwhelming evidence.
Chirume, who was naked and armed with a machete, stormed a house in the Target Kopje suburb, where three female students were sleeping and robbed US$10 from his first victim before getting US$5 from the second victim.
He then ordered his first victim to lie on her bed on her back before proceeding to rape her once without protection.
The state led by regional prosecutor Mr Liberty Hove also proved that after violating his first victim, Chirume again tried to rape the second student who then jumped out of the room through the window screaming for help forcing the convict to flee from the house.
Luck ran out for Chirume after he was positively identified by his victims’ friends who alerted the police leading to his arrest at Pangolin Light Industries in the city.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter