FOUR machete-wielding illegal gold panners allegedly raided
a Kwekwe homestead and robbed the owner of cellphones, R220 and $11 before
taking turns to rape his wife while he watched helplessly.
The quartet stormed the victims’ home recently armed with
machetes and threatened to attack them before robbing them of their money and
cellphones. They then tied the husband with a piece of cloth and allegedly took
turns to rape his wife.
This emerged when two of the suspects, Onias Masanhiko (20)
and Ernest Sibanda (35) approached the High Court seeking bail pending trial.
They are facing armed robbery and rape charges.
Masanhiko and Sibanda, through their lawyers Mavhiringidze
and Mashanyare Legal Practitioners, filed an application for bail at the
Bulawayo High Court citing the State as a respondent.
In their bail statement, the two applicants are denying the
charges, arguing that they were not at the scene of the crime on that
particular day.
“It is the applicants’ submission that they had visited
their uncle in the area after he had invited them to assist him in his mining
activities. The applicants have never been at the complainants’ place of
residence or committed the offences on that particular day as they had gone to
Battlefields to collect some of their clothes. They were actually taken by
surprise when they got arrested for offences that they had no idea of,” said
the applicants’ lawyers.
The two accused persons argued that there were no
compelling reasons warranting their continued detention. They submitted that
there was no evidence by the State that if released on bail, they would abscond
due to the gravity of the offence.
“It is submitted that the mere fact that the offences are
grievous does not disentitle the applicants from bail if there are no
compelling reasons to deny them. It is apparent that the applicants are of
fixed abode. In any event, the applicants proffered plausible defences and the
court should therefore lean in favour of bail as there are no compelling
reasons to dictate otherwise,” argued the lawyers.
Masanhiko and Sibanda said they were proper candidates for
bail and offered to strictly adhere to any stipulated bail conditions imposed
by the court in the event that they are released on bail.
According to court papers, on September 1 this year, the
two men ganged up with Anesu Mpofu (25) and Tarisai Mupundu (37) and went to
the complainants’ home in Major Compound in Kwekwe where they force opened the
door using machetes.
They stormed the house and found the complainants, a
husband and wife, sleeping in their bedroom. They woke up the couple and
demanded money amid threats to strike them with machetes.
Out of fear, the victims handed over their cellphones to
the accused persons. They assaulted the victims before demanding money. The
victims showed the quartet where they kept their money. Mpofu tied the male
victim’s hand using a piece of cloth and they took R220 and $11.
After robbing the couple, they force marched the female
complainant for about 100 metres where they allegedly took turns to rape her
without protection before they fled into the darkness.
A report was made to
the police leading to the arrest of Masanhiko and Sibanda. Their two
accomplices are still at large. Chronicle
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