Tendai Gukutikwa and Takudzwa Manzero
FEAR has gripped Dangamvura residents, especially those staying in the P Section, as a monster rapist continues to wreak havoc, and prey on defenceless women in the area.
The serial rapist’s reign of terror has left many petrified, creating a sombre atmosphere, and making it difficult for women and the girl child to feel secure in their own homes.
This is despite that section of Dangamvura being a stone’s throw away from Dangamvura Police Station.
Some victims complained of police’s lethargy in attending the scenes when reports are made, citing lack of transport.
When The Manica Post visited the area on Monday, it was clear that fear had gripped the community, with women evidently worried about their safety.
Our news crew caught up with three of the six women who claimed to have been sexually violated by the monster — who also confiscated their undergarments, supposedly for ritual purposes.
While one victim refused to grant our news crew an interview, the other two consented, describing the rapist as a shadowy character who stalks, hides and creeps up on his victims, before pouncing and attacking them with a huge kitchen knife.
One of the victims (name withheld) was allegedly sexually assaulted in the presence of her three children.
“I do not understand how he entered the house because all the doors were locked. It was around 9pm when he appeared out of the blues wielding a knife, ordering me to remain silent or face death. He coerced me into my lodgings and raped me twice, while demanding to know the whereabouts of my female tenant.
“It was so untoward that while he abused me, he was telling me how he could not rape a woman every night. He demanded that I take him to my tenant’s her room as if he knew that there were no men at the house,” she said.
The victim said her assailant, clad in a black pair of trousers and black hooded jacket, tried to open the door that connects her room and that of her tenant, but it was locked.
He allegedly ordered the landlady to accompany him to the tenant’s room so that he could also sexually assault her.
“I feared that if I failed to comply with his orders, he would kill my children as they were sleeping in the same room while he raped me at knife point. Out of fear, I knocked on my tenant’s door. When she opened the door, he entered into the room and sexually assaulted her as I watched. It was only after he had left that we called the police,” she said.
Another victim, who was raped in mid-August, said she was attacked after her night shift by a suspect putting on the same clothes.
“He emerged from the shadows, startled and held me at knife point, before taking me to a nearby river where he raped me twice. He even boasted about his crimes, and showed me a pair of female undergarments that he had allegedly collected from other victims he had raped that night.
“He said he was hunting for two more victims to quench his sexual appetite, and ordered me to call one of my friends and lure her so that he could rape her. I refused, and asked if I could pay him instead. I told him that the money was at my house. I managed to escape from his jaws,” she said.
The victim said her assailant also demanded her underwear after the rape, but she had hidden it, fearing that it could be used for rituals.
“My greatest fear is that he might come back and demand the undergarments if he is not arrested. I have not been staying home since that incident,” she said.
Mrs Ruth Muzango, a concerned resident, said most single women in the area are living in fear.
“I heard that at least three more victims, in addition to those you have already interviewed were abused by the same suspect. It seems the police are not doing anything to track down and arrest this monster. All ladies in this hood are really worried about their safety, and by 5pm, we would have locked ourselves indoors, and we are no longer responding to any knocks, however, genuine they could be,” she said.
Another resident, Ms Clara Masharo, called for the reviving of the Neighbourhood Watch Committee to address such crimes.
Ms Esther Mambayo said law enforcement agents must fish out the monster rapist to reduce vulnerability of women in the hood.
Acting Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Wiseman Chinyoka said they were investigating all the Dangamvura rape cases, and appealed to members of the public with information leading to the arrest of the suspect to contact their nearest police station.
He assured members of the public that the police were taking all necessary measures to track down, and bring the perpetrator to justice.
