Increase in 'sperm harvesting' cases worries police

Police in Manicaland are asking men to stay alert following an increase in rapes perpetrated by one or more groups of women. The announcement was made following a four-day sexual assault of a young male soldier by a gang of four women.

The 25 year-old man was kidnapped along a highway in Manicaland by four women travelling in a car. They took him to their hideout and allegedly had their way with him from 19 April to 23 April and then dumped him out in the wilderness. The man then made his way to the police and filed a report.

A police spokesman said that this was the fifth reported incident of sexual assault against men since last year. However, as is often the case with rape of any kind, it is assumed many of the victims have not come forward.

Although they have not said definitively, police are assuming that this is the work of a single group of serial women rapists. To further complicate matters, Zimbabwe law actually doesn't recognize rape against men. This could mean significantly reduced cases against these women in the event of their arrest.