Russian woman resorts to prostitution in Zimbabwe, hubby takes kids away

Residents of Gwanda in particular the night club goers are complaining of a foreign white woman "umlungu" who is reported to be a nuisance in the town's drinking places.

The woman (name supplied whether correct or not) who is popularly known as Umlungu in the town's drinking places is said to have first appeared in the town around 2008 as a wife to a senior public service employee. The woman believed to be from Russia or The Czech Republic is said to have hooked up with the Zimbabwean man while he was doing studies overseas leading to their relocation to Zimbabwe Gwanda around 2008.

The very respected senior civil servant is reported to have stayed with the white lady as his wife for a couple of years in the town and had a child or children of mixed race together. According to reports from the town, the "marriage" was never good from the onset as the woman who has a very high appetite for beer always publicly verbally and physically abused the man who was then employed as a senior officer by the Gwanda Rural District Council. After a while the "marriage" which was always bound to collapse met the inevitable fate and the two separated.

Disaster for the woman started from the time that the two separated as she was left with nowhere to stay nor any money to sustain herself. The well respected man is reported to have moved on and remarried this time a black Zimbabwean woman and retained custody of the child or children from his previous "marriage". The white woman is said to have resorted to living in bars and night clubs surviving on the "generosity" of other drinkers. Life got worse for the white woman as she sort means of surviving with reports being that she resorted to butter trade her body for accommodation and food.

Reports coming from the town indicate that the woman is now staying in the company of illegal gold miners "Otsheketsha" sometimes in the shacks where the miners stay. Claims are that she can be found in the company of sometimes more than five men in the shack all quenching their sexual desires on her just for her to get food and beer. She is reportedly always found drinking opaque beer known as Scud or Batai Munhu in local low class taverns speaking vulgar and fighting with both male and female patrons at the bars. The woman who is said to be now very fluent in both Ndebele and Shona is reported to be of such nuisance that an average person avoids making any mistake talking to her or getting in contact with her as they will get a mouthful of swearing or violent attacks from her.

Sources who brought the story to the attention of Bulawayo24 described the white woman as a "public nuisance". The sources question how the European woman remains in the country after the "divorce" with her husband if ever she was legally married to the man.

"This woman must just be removed from Gwanda and sent back where she came from since what she came here for has failed. She is a serious insult to women especially those of European origin in an African state," said one source.

Asked for a comment a marriage officer in the town who requested to speak on condition of anonymity because of his close relationship with the "former husband" said that the husband should have done an honourable thing and somehow tried to or facilitated for the woman's return to her country of origin after the collapse of their marriage.

"Its sad to see this woman being subjected to such sexual and emotional abuse by a gang of merciless and "adventurous" young gold panners and other such irresponsible men. This woman left her country for a marriage here and now that the marriage has failed perhaps the husband should have been good enough to facilitate her return to her country of origin," said the official.

Quizzed if he was aware if the couple ever got legally married in the country the marriage officer declined to comment stating that the question was a personal matter between the two and was not at liberty to disclose or discuss that. The Zimbabwean immigration laws grant a foreigner who is married to a Zimbabwean a legal right to stay in the country leading to the person getting Zimbabwean citizenship after five years in the marriage. The marriage of the couple could not be immediately ascertained and the legal stay of the woman in the country could also not be immediately ascertained.

A few young men interviewed by a Bulawayo24 correspondent in Gwanda expressed varied opinions on the woman some claiming that Mlungu must not be removed from Gwanda as she is "everyone's friend."

"Some big people here claim that she is a nuisance but we have seen some of them sneaking out with her in the dark to try their luck with a white woman, please leave her alone she is our friend," said a drunk youngman who identified himself only as Dumisani at the popular Millies Restaurant and Bar, Mlungu's most liked drinking spot.

Another early morning drinker at the bar quickly blamed the man who brought the white lady to Gwanda for handing over his problem to the community.

"This man must take his white woman back where he got her, she is not ours. Why is he dumping her here with us? He takes a problem all the way from Russia and makes it a Gwanda problem, he must be arrested for human trafficking and the white woman be arrested for prostitution and deported back to her country," said the angry young man who called himself SekaSipho.

A lady who was also drinking "Batai Munhu" the opaque beer at the bar as early as 09:00am also demanded that the woman be removed from the community as she is an embarrassment to her former husband and their children.

"I understand how this man feels when he sees his wife become everyone's delight while he watches! I really feel for the children, imagine how they feel when they see or hear about their mother being a vagabond (isibhonda) while the father drives around in a 4X4 vehicle. Its very bad of this man he must just take his wife back where he got her."

Efforts to get a comment from the former husband, the department of immigration and the woman's embassy are still underway.