Published by the government of Zimbabwe
7 May 2008
Harare — A Beitbridge motorist was robbed of cash and property while a woman was also robbed and gang-raped on Sunday evening in separate incidents in the same area.
The motorist was fixing his car that had broken down along Beitbridge-Dite Road when three armed men pounced on him, stripped him naked and robbed him of property worth about $20 billion and 1 000 rand cash.
The woman (26) from Madaula Village was attacked by three knife-wielding men who allegedly robbed and gang-raped her while she was looking for transport to Beitbridge. Matabeleland South Province police spokesman Inspector Tafanana Dzirutwe confirmed the incidents saying police had since launched intensive investigations into the matter.
He said police believed that all the suspects were part of a racket of robbers operating in the district and added that the net was slowly closing in on them. He said in the first incident, the complainant was driving along the Beitbridge-Dite Road at around 4pm when his Datsun 120Y developed a mechanical fault near Maware Village. "He then stopped to fix the vehicle and during the process the trio emerged from the nearby bush with one of them pointing a gun at the complainant. "The other two accomplices were wielding metal rods. They then ordered the man to move away from his car and started assaulting him with the metal rods before ransacking the car. "The suspects took with them a Panasonic car radio, 5 audio cassettes; the clothes he was wearing, a Samsung mobile phone, $2 billion cash and 1 000 rand.
"They disappeared into the bush after committing the crime. The matter was later reported to the police and we have since launched a manhunt for the suspects while investigations are in progress" said Inspector Dzirutwe. He said the other incident occurred 30 minutes later near Madaula Primary school 70 km east of Beitbridge Town. "Apparently the two complainants - a woman aged
26 and another man whose age is not known -- were walking along a footpath from Madaula Primary School towards the Beitbridge-Tshikwalakwala Road, where they intended to get transport to the border town," he said. Inspector Dzirutwe said three men wielding knives emerged from behind and ordered them to lie down while the two were walking towards the road.
The suspects then searched the two and took away a Sagem and a Samsung mobile phone, a pair of tennis shoes, a few clothes and $2 billion cash.
Inspector Dzirutwe added that soon after stripping them of their property, the suspects force-marched the woman into a nearby bush where they took turns to rape her before disappearing into the bush. A report was made to the police on the same day.
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