Teenage girl raped by Zanu PF thugs as retribution continues

By Tererai Karimakwenda

A teenage girl was abducted and raped last Tuesday morning, by a gang of five ZANU PF thugs who burned down the tuck shop she was working in, because it was owned by an MDC-T official. 

According to the MDC-T, the 19 year old girl was working in a tuck shop in Epworth, which is owned by Reuben Munyati, the MDC-T treasurer for ward 3, Mbare. She was able to identify one of the perpetrators as Victor Rundare, a known ZANU PF activist.

It was about 2 AM when the gang arrived and burned down the shop, before they abducted the girl and drove away with her. After taking turns to rape her, the gang dumped her in the Overspill area of Epworth.

Although she named one of the gang, the police at Dombo Police station simply opened a case file and have made no arrests so far. They even went as far as asking the victim “to prove beyond reasonable doubt” that Rundare was involved.

Political commentator, Lameck Mahachi, told SW Radio Africa that the incident itself and the lack of action by the police angered him very much. But even more disturbing, he said, is that the MDC-T does not seem to do enough to pursue the prosecution of ZANU PF perpetrators.

“The MDC-T should have a department that has the wherewithal to handle such cases, understanding that the police are partisan. If no action is taken then they should go further and bring it to parliament or approach the International Criminal courts,” Mahachi fumed.

In another attack, believed to be the result of political retribution against known MDC-T supporters, a kitchen belonging to Jonathan Ngowani, the MDC Headlands district youth organising secretary, was burned down last Wednesday. Ngowani and his wife were both not home when the incident took place.

The suspects, named as ZANU PF supporters Paul Manjese and Francis Takaneta, were taken to Inyati police station for interrogation. But no further action has been taken by the police.

Attacks on MDC-T supporters have intensified since the results of the July 31st elections were announced, with ZANU PF claiming a landslide victory against the MDC-T and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Despite this ‘landslide’, there were hardly any ZANU PF celebrations to speak of, with observers and MDC-T officials saying this was a sign that the election was rigged to favour Robert Mugabe and his party.

In a statement the MDC-T said: “The MDC-T condemns in the strongest of terms such barbaric acts by ZANU PF supporters and call upon responsible authorities to take action against such perpetrators of violence.”

The appeal is likely to fall on deaf ears as police in Zimbabwe have a history of ignoring violent cases reported by MDC-T officials and supporters. In many instances, the victim winds up being accused of some crime against ZANU PF. The case is then later dropped, giving impunity to the perpetrators. SW Radio Africa