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Democracy Zimbabwe Style 8th April 2003 An MDC election agent's wife was gang-raped by about a dozen suspected Zanu PF youths in Kuwadzana last Thursday. The youths broke into the family house in Kuwadzana 6, Harare, claiming to be policemen. The victim made a report at Kuwadzana 2 Police Station, record number OB3646/03 but was advised to bring back a medical report. Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena, the police spokesman, refused to comment yesterday, saying this paper's reporters should not seek his comment on any issue, not even traffic accidents. The intruders allegedly blindfolded the agent's 23-year-old wife with a napkin and took turns to rape her before force-marching her husband to a nearby hill where they severely tortured him. Nelson Chamisa, the party's national youth chairman and the MP-elect for the area, called upon the police to take action immediately to rid the community of such people. He said: "A report was made to the police and we will assist professional policemen to make arrests. It's shocking that there are still some youngsters who are so misguided. It's totally unfair. These rapists are known criminals. They have become a security threat to Kuwadzana residents. "As the MP-elect, I will not rest until they are brought to book." The couple was accused of voting for Chamisa in the parliamentary by-election held on 28 and 29 March. According to a medical report compiled by Dr D Zhakata, at the Avenues Clinic Casualty Unit, the woman was gang-raped by five males. Zhakata's report reads: "She was slapped in the face and has a severe headache, an itching vulva and painful lower limbs. In a stable condition." On Sunday, the rape victim, who is in hiding, said about 12 youths broke into their house at about 1am. She said: "My husband has always been on the run from Zanu PF supporters so he hid under the bed when the youths knocked on the door. "I responded to the knock, asking who they were. They asked if I was his wife and when I confirmed that they broke down the door and entered. They pulled my husband from underneath the bed and started striking him in the face before taking him out of the house. Five of the youths remained behind. They pulled me and forcibly removed my clothes." She said they then proceeded to rape her as she screamed and was struck. They threatened her with death if she cried for help or reported the matter to the police. She said her ordeal lasted about two hours and she remembers hearing the youths ordering her husband to watch it. She said they turned the house upside down searching for MDC T-shirts and membership cards which they did not find. They allegedly took away the couple's identity documents, stole $10 000 in cash and 10 napkins belonging to their eight-month-old daughter. She said: "After some time, the youths resumed raping me again. They said nothing would be done to them because they were the country's police force." She said her husband only returned home around 4am limping, his clothes torn and his body soaked in blood. The husband was taken to the Avenues Clinic before being transferred to a private home from which he is being treated. He said: "I hid under the bed when the youths banged on my door. They said they wanted to show me that they could do anything with impunity. I didn't think they would rape my wife in my presence. I was shocked. They made me chant Zanu PF slogans while they raped her." By
Precious Shumba - Daily News (Zimbabwe) |