Suspended Police Officer Jailed For Trafficking Women To Oman
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A suspended police officer and his niece have been convicted of trafficking three women to Oman where they were turned into sex slaves.
According to H-Metro, Forward Mashonganyika and his niece, Tendai Muswe, were convicted after a full trial by Harare regional magistrate Estere Chivasa on Wednesday, 06 March.
Muswe is currently serving three years in prison for a similar offence.
In her ruling, magistrate Chivasa said the State had proved their case beyond reasonable doubt.
The magistrate said the three women proved to be credible witnesses. She said:
Besides facilitating the trafficking from Zimbabwe to Oman, the other issue is that there must be evidence of deceitfulness. Several things aren’t in dispute.
According to their defence, the three women stayed at Mashonganyika’s place of residence once and it’s not in dispute that they travelled to Oman.
They were excited to fly for the first time and, when they flew, they believed they were flying to Dubai to work in hotels and restaurants. It’s not in dispute that they went to Oman, not Dubai.
The magistrate said the trafficked women were enslaved, assaulted, denied food and salaries, denied rest, and sexually assaulted in Oman before being deported to Zimbabwe. She said:
It’s not in dispute that they were allocated to work as slaves and none of the two is denying that they were enslaved, assaulted, denied food and salaries, denied rest, sexually assaulted and deported back to Zimbabwe.
The only thing in dispute is whether they facilitated their trafficking to Oman and they denied any involvement, but the State led evidence from several witnesses and I listened carefully to how they were linking the duo to the trafficking.
The evidence was cemented by that of the investigating officer through whom documents of money they received from Mohamed Ali in Oman were tendered.
There are several harrowing tales of Zimbabwean women who were trafficked to Oman after being promised a brighter future in the Middle East.
More:Â Pindula News