News / National
Woman in court for human trafficking
21 Feb 2014 at 06:07hrs | Views
THE global pandemic of human trafficking seems to have taken root in Zimbabwe where a 62-year-old Harare woman appeared in court yesterday charged with trafficking two girls to Angola for purposes of prostitution.
Jessica Mahuni was not asked to plead when she appeared before provincial magistrate Douglas Chikwekwe.
The incident leading to Mahuni's arrest allegedly occurred between July last year and February this year when she enticed Yvette Tsapo and Michelle Luwizhi into believing they had secured employment as cross-border traders.
The court heard the two girls left the country separately, one by road and the other by air, but later joined each other upon arrival in Luanda, Angola.
Immediately after setting their foot in Angola, Mahuni is said to have confiscated the girls' passports and cellphones and told them they were now in "Dos Santos's country and not in Mugabe's" territory and as such, they would play by her dictates.
The court heard that Mahuni took one of the girls to a certain family, placed her under a contract of employment as a house maid, but collected wages.
The court further heard at one point the girls spent two weeks scavenging for food as Mahuni refused to feed them.
Instead, she allegedly ordered them to indulge into prostitution for daily meals and her personal gain.
The State alleges that Tsapo and Luwizhi were forced to have unprotected sex with several men, while Mahuni collected the cash paid for services rendered by the girls.
However, the victims' ordeal came to an end early this month when they met a Zimbabwean woman, whose name was not mentioned in court papers, who took them to the Zimbabwean Embassy in Luanda where travelling documents were processed for the duo to come back home.
Upon arrival in Zimbabwe, they reported the matter to police, leading to Mahuni's arrest and the recovery of the girls' passports from her residence.
She was granted $200 bail and remanded to March 5 for trial.
Jessica Mahuni was not asked to plead when she appeared before provincial magistrate Douglas Chikwekwe.
The incident leading to Mahuni's arrest allegedly occurred between July last year and February this year when she enticed Yvette Tsapo and Michelle Luwizhi into believing they had secured employment as cross-border traders.
The court heard the two girls left the country separately, one by road and the other by air, but later joined each other upon arrival in Luanda, Angola.
Immediately after setting their foot in Angola, Mahuni is said to have confiscated the girls' passports and cellphones and told them they were now in "Dos Santos's country and not in Mugabe's" territory and as such, they would play by her dictates.
The court heard that Mahuni took one of the girls to a certain family, placed her under a contract of employment as a house maid, but collected wages.
Instead, she allegedly ordered them to indulge into prostitution for daily meals and her personal gain.
The State alleges that Tsapo and Luwizhi were forced to have unprotected sex with several men, while Mahuni collected the cash paid for services rendered by the girls.
However, the victims' ordeal came to an end early this month when they met a Zimbabwean woman, whose name was not mentioned in court papers, who took them to the Zimbabwean Embassy in Luanda where travelling documents were processed for the duo to come back home.
Upon arrival in Zimbabwe, they reported the matter to police, leading to Mahuni's arrest and the recovery of the girls' passports from her residence.
She was granted $200 bail and remanded to March 5 for trial.
Source - newsday
