A woman from Highlands, Harare, is accused of initially blocking her raped daughter from reporting the case to the police allegedly to maintain good relations with the suspect’s mother.
According to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), the victim and the suspect were in a relationship, as boyfriend and girlfriend, at the time of the rape incident, while the victim’s mother, who is 51, was a friend of the suspect’s mother.
Police said at first the victim’s mother did not allow her daughter to file a police report but the victim eventually decided to report the matter behind her mother’s back, leading to the suspect’s arrest.
The 36-year-old suspect, who is from Glenclover Road in Highlands, was arrested for allegedly raping his girlfriend (35) who was on her way from an evening church service.
ZRP spokesperson for Harare Province, Inspector Luckmore Chakanza, told H-Metro that the suspect is now in police custody. He said:
Police arrested a Highlands man for raping his girlfriend, aged 35. Circumstances are that the accused is the complainant’s boyfriend.
The complainant was on her way from church at around 6 PM with her churchmate when the accused person called and offered to come and pick her up with his vehicle.
The accused person came and took the complainant and he advised her that they were going to his house and later on accompanied the complainant to her house since they live in the same neighbourhood.
As soon as they got to the accused’s house, the accused locked the car doors before he jumped to the back seat where the complainant was seated and raped her once.
After the act, the accused accompanied the complainant home and she told her mother, but the mother blocked her from reporting the matter.
She later decided to report the case, behind her mother’s back, leading to the accused person’s arrest.
Factors that may make rape victims or their parents not report the crime include fear of social stigma and blame associated with sexual assault, lack of confidence in the police and the justice system, and fear of retaliation from the perpetrator or their associates, among others.
More: Pindula News