Female highway rape suspects released on bail

Three women accused of sexually abusing male hitchhikers in search of semen were yesterday granted US$300 bail apiece. Sisters Sophie (26) and Netsai Nhokwara (24), Rosemary Chakwizira (28) and their male friend Thulani Ngwenya (24) were granted bail in absentia with the consent of the Attorney-General’s Office.

Their lawyers, Mr Dumusani Mthombeni of Venturas and Samukange and Mr Charles Nyika, appeared before provincial magistrate Mr Munamato Mutevedzi and presented a letter of consent from the AG’s Office.

As part of their bail conditions, the four will surrender their passports and report at Gweru Police Station on Mondays and Fridays. They are facing 17 counts of aggravated indecent assault.

On the first count, it is alleged that on March 3 this year at around 7:50am, the quartet, which was driving a Toyota Spacio without registration numbers, picked a 19-year-old man in Budiriro, Harare.

The teenager was on his way to town. Along the way, the State says they sprayed him with an unknown substance and he felt dizzy. It is alleged they diverted the route and drove into a bushy area along Mukuvisi River behind Houghton Park where they reportedly forced him to drink a concoction that stimulates sexual desire.

They allegedly forced the teenager to be intimate with the three of them using condoms. After this, they secured the used condoms containing semen before spraying him with the same substance and leaving him unconscious. When he woke up, the teenager reported the matter to the police. On August 22, the four allegedly picked up a soldier in Norton while driving a Toyota Raum.

The soldier, who was not in uniform, was taken into a dirt road near Porta Farm where one of them allegedly produced a pistol and threatened to shoot him if he refused to have unprotected sex with them. Afterwards, they dumped him in the bushy area and sped off.

It is alleged that on September 14 at about 5:20pm, the four who were driving a Mitsubishi Chariot along Chitambo Street in Chinhoyi approached a police Constable who was not in uniform.

They allegedly asked him for directions before bundling him into their vehicle after spraying him with an unknown substance. They allegedly forced him to have unprotected sex with them before pushing him out of the vehicle and sped off.