Cowdray Park rape gang in court

TWO more men have appeared in court for allegedly terrorising people in Luveve and Cowdray Park suburbs, gang-raping and robbing residents using machetes, knives and iron bars.

The alleged robbers tied their victims with ropes and tore off a woman's clothes using a knife before taking turns to rape her.

Dumile Dungeni, 32 and Mlungisi Khumalo, 34, yesterday entered "not guilty" pleas when they appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Tranos Utahwashe. A third man, who was not named in court, is on the run.

Their court appearence came a week after eight men, who worked as a gang, were jailed for a combined 629 years after admitting to robbing and raping residents of the two suburbs.

Dungeni and Khumalo, who face three counts of rape and two counts of robbery each, allegedly pounced on a taxi driver and his client in Cowdray Park.

They allegedly robbed the taxi driver before taking turns to rape the woman several times.

The third alleged robber did not rape the woman after she claimed that she was on HIV medication.

He, however, allegedly kicked her privates until she sustained serious injuries.

The taxi driver and the female victim told the court how the two, together with the suspect who is on the run, tied them with ropes before driving away with the vehicle.

"It was last year on August 1 when I called my friend who is a registered taxi operator and asked him to take me home at around 8PM. I had some goods and we went home and proceeded to my brother's place, also in Cowdray Park," said the rape victim.

"On our way back to my home, someone smashed the windscreen from outside with an unknown object. As we tried to figure out what was happening, three men emerged from the darkness and opened the car doors."

She said the trio slapped them and threatened to hit them with machetes, knives and iron bars they were carrying.

"One of the men jumped onto the driver's seat and drove while we sat at the back in-between the two men who continued to assault us, forcing us to look down," she said.

After a while, the men allegedly stopped the car and one of them dragged the woman out of the vehicle and used a knife to cut her leggings and panties.

"He raped me once and force marched me back into the car. He continued to do that for three times, stopping after a few kilometres and raping me and dragging me back into the car," she said.

The court heard that the other suspect also took advantage of the woman and raped her after they drove for a few minutes.

"The third man failed to rape me as I begged him saying I was on medication which demotivated him. He, however, kicked my privates until they were sore," she added.

"They drove along a dusty road in a bushy area connecting Bulawayo and Nyamandlovu and dropped us there before driving off."

The taxi driver told the court that the trio also escaped with his pair of jeans, jacket and cash amounting to $95.

Magistrate Utahwashe remanded the duo in custody to today.

The arrest of the alleged robbers, follows the recent arrest of an eight member gang which brought terror to Luveve and Cowdray Park residents.

The gang was incarcerated after pleading guilty to a total of 90 crimes which ranged from rape, robbery, unlawful entry, carjacking to theft.

Three regional magistrates had a torrid time taking the eight men through their pleas in one day and they took turns to sentence them before a packed court a gallery.

Nqobizitha Ncube of Old Pumula, the mastermind of the gang whose two other members are yet to be brought before court, took part in almost all the crimes and was jailed for an effective 166 years.