News / Regional
Mentally challenged woman attacked, raped
07 Apr 2015 at 07:10hrs | Views
A FILABUSI man allegedly stoned a mentally challenged woman, undressed her and raped her before leaving her for dead.
The incident happened on Good Friday at Vocola Business Centre in Filabusi.
The mentally challenged woman was allegedly raped by a man (name supplied) believed to be from Dekezi area. The man is said to be in his mid-20s.
A relative of the mentally challenged woman said the woman was found lying unconscious on the ground near Vocola shops around 5AM on Saturday after she went missing from her home on the previous day.
"He attacked and raped her, leaving her for dead. She had visible injury marks all over the body and was bleeding. Everyone thought she was dead," said the relative.
It is alleged that the suspect admitted to assaulting the woman with stones before stripping and raping her.
Sources said the man allegedly tried to flee the area after committing the offence but failed after the driver of a kombi he wanted to board became suspicious when he saw the blood stains on his clothes.
It is said that the man initially lied and claimed he got the blood stains from slaughtering a beast but later changed his statement.
"One of the passengers realised that there was a body of a woman lying naked about 800m from where the suspect was. People confronted him and he admitted to being responsible for the woman's nakedness. He told people that he had assaulted her with stones, stripped her and raped her until she passed out.
"She could have frozen to death because she spent several hours naked after that traumatic incident which happened in the middle of the night," said the relative.
Some villagers said the suspect seemed to also have a mental problem as he was behaving in a strange manner. They said the rape victim was known to be a harmless woman and could be seen roaming around asking for food from people.
Insiza South Member of Parliament Malachi Nkomo confirmed the incident.
He said he arrived at the scene around 7AM and found the woman unconscious but was later taken to hospital for medical attention.
The suspect was immediately arrested at the scene.
"Community members need to learn to protect people with mental problems. Family members should always keep an eye on them so that they are protected from danger and unfortunate incidences such as this case as it puts them at risk of being infected with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. In Ndebele we say Akusilima sindlebende kwaso," said Nkomo.
He also said shops should be given stipulated times to close as some closed at midnight resulting in some cases of violence.
Matabeleland South acting provincial police spokesperson Sergeant Thabani Mkwananzi could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The incident happened on Good Friday at Vocola Business Centre in Filabusi.
The mentally challenged woman was allegedly raped by a man (name supplied) believed to be from Dekezi area. The man is said to be in his mid-20s.
A relative of the mentally challenged woman said the woman was found lying unconscious on the ground near Vocola shops around 5AM on Saturday after she went missing from her home on the previous day.
"He attacked and raped her, leaving her for dead. She had visible injury marks all over the body and was bleeding. Everyone thought she was dead," said the relative.
It is alleged that the suspect admitted to assaulting the woman with stones before stripping and raping her.
Sources said the man allegedly tried to flee the area after committing the offence but failed after the driver of a kombi he wanted to board became suspicious when he saw the blood stains on his clothes.
It is said that the man initially lied and claimed he got the blood stains from slaughtering a beast but later changed his statement.
"One of the passengers realised that there was a body of a woman lying naked about 800m from where the suspect was. People confronted him and he admitted to being responsible for the woman's nakedness. He told people that he had assaulted her with stones, stripped her and raped her until she passed out.
"She could have frozen to death because she spent several hours naked after that traumatic incident which happened in the middle of the night," said the relative.
Some villagers said the suspect seemed to also have a mental problem as he was behaving in a strange manner. They said the rape victim was known to be a harmless woman and could be seen roaming around asking for food from people.
Insiza South Member of Parliament Malachi Nkomo confirmed the incident.
He said he arrived at the scene around 7AM and found the woman unconscious but was later taken to hospital for medical attention.
The suspect was immediately arrested at the scene.
"Community members need to learn to protect people with mental problems. Family members should always keep an eye on them so that they are protected from danger and unfortunate incidences such as this case as it puts them at risk of being infected with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. In Ndebele we say Akusilima sindlebende kwaso," said Nkomo.
He also said shops should be given stipulated times to close as some closed at midnight resulting in some cases of violence.
Matabeleland South acting provincial police spokesperson Sergeant Thabani Mkwananzi could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Source - chronicle
