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Crime Reporter
A Harare teenager was last week raped by a man who enticed her through social media to come for a modelling audition, with police worried about the increase in criminal use of social network sites.
The suspect, aged 25, has since been arrested and will appear in court soon.
It is alleged that the 19-year-old came into contact with her assailant on Facebook, where she was duped into believing that he wanted models who would appear on his branded designer hats.
The teenager agreed to meet him at his “offices” in Waterfalls, but once there was told the only way she would get the job was after they became intimate.
She was then allegedly raped.
She reported the case to the police, leading to the arrest of the suspect.
National police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi warned people against trusting strangers they meet online.
This is not the first time that rapists have lured teenagers and women through online contacts.
In December last year, flirting on social media turned violent for a Harare woman who was raped by her “online boyfriend”.
The two knew each other through social media and they chatted until they agreed to meet in Harare.
The first meeting resulted in the man raping the woman (29).
The victim met the suspect along Samora Machel Avenue, Harare, for the first time and the two drove to a house where the complainant was later raped.
The victim became the second in a month after another 18-year-old woman from Masvingo was raped under similar circumstances at a Harare lodge.
The Masvingo woman reportedly travelled to Harare to meet her social media male friend, who tricked her into entering a lodge, where she was raped.
He claimed the lodge was his parents’ house and vanished after the assault.
Peter Tanyanyiwa
Online Reporter