The Sunday News
Melinda Ncube, Sunday News Reporter
A 21-year-old Bulawayo woman was last week raped by a yet to be identified assailant who claimed to be a police officer.
She was on her way to visit her boyfriend in Sizinda. Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said the young woman was walking alone going to visit her boyfriend in Sizinda suburb and upon arriving at Bantu Shopping Centre, she met an unknown person who identified himself as a police officer.
The man produced a fake police identification document inscribed D Ncube and informed her that she was under arrest for violating Covid-19 regulations by not wearing a face mask and he was taking her to Tshabalala Police Station.
She became suspicious when she discovered that they were not going to Tshabalala but were going in the opposite direction. The woman asked why they were not going to the police station and the man grabbed her by the neck and hit her on the back of the neck with a stone.
Insp Ncube said the man force-marched the woman to a bushy area along the railway line in Sizinda where he further assaulted her. She tried to escape but he pushed her to the ground and removed her trousers and raped her three times without protection. He also took her cellphone. After the incident the accused threatened to kill her with a knife if she screamed and left her lying on the ground.
“We urge members of the public not to accept or follow instructions of any person purporting to be a police officer arresting a female on his own and pretending to be leading that person to a police station. Our officers go in pairs and they should positively identify themselves before a suspect is taken to a police station,” said Insp Ncube.
