17 years in prison for raping a prostitute at ‘broken beer bottle-point’
A Mberengwa man has been jailed for 17 years after he raped a 29-year-old sex worker twice in the early hours of the morning, shortly after hiring her to accompany him to his home. Nkululeko Moyo, 23, of Mapfumo Village under Chief Mutevaidze, was convicted on two counts of rape by the Zvishavane Regional Magistrates’ Court. The sentence followed a trial over an attack that began as a commercial arrangement but ended with the woman being threatened, dragged into a bush and assaulted twice along a pathway.
The National Prosecuting Authority said the incident happened at about 0300 hours on 19 May 2025. Moyo and the woman had agreed that she would accompany him to his residence for the night. They were walking towards the home when the arrangement changed into a violent confrontation.
According to the account placed before the court, Moyo broke an empty beer bottle and demanded money from the woman. When she told him that she had no money, he dragged her into a nearby bush, forced her to remove her clothes and raped her.
The attack did not end there. After the first rape, Moyo ordered the woman to dress and continue walking with him. They moved about 100 metres further along the path before he forced her to undress for a second time. He ordered her to lie on the ground and raped her again.
After the second assault, the woman was told to dress and continue accompanying him. The journey ended when the pair heard voices approaching from behind. Moyo fled, leaving the woman to report what had happened.
The NPA gave the following account of the events:
“On the 19th of May 2025, at around 0300 hours, the victim, a 29-year-old female sex worker, entered into a commercial agreement to accompany the offender to his residence for the night,” the NPA said.
However, while en route, the offender broke an empty beer bottle and aggressively demanded cash from her.When she informed him that she had no money, the offender dragged her into a nearby bush, forced her to undress, and raped her. Immediately after the rape incident, the offender ordered the victim to put on her clothes and to accompany him as he walked approximately 100 metres further along the path.
He then forced her to remove her clothes a second time, ordered her to lie on the ground, and raped her again. Following the second sexual assault, the offender ordered the victim to dress and accompany him. While walking, they heard voices approaching behind them, prompting the offender to flee the scene. The victim reported the matter at the local police station and was referred to Mberengwa Hospital for medical examination, leading to the offender’s arrest and conviction.
The woman went to the local police station after Moyo ran away. She was referred to Mberengwa Hospital for a medical examination, and the report led to Moyo’s arrest. His conviction on two counts reflected the two separate assaults described in court.
The case is one of several in Zimbabwe in which men have faced arrest or imprisonment after attacking women working as ‘adultery engineers’. In March 2025, Moses Mukonowenzou from Tshitaudze suburb in Beitbridge, who was 32 years at the time, was sentenced to an effective 24 years in prison after robbing and raping a ‘sex-smith’.
Mukonowenzou was convicted of taking R200 and a Nokia C10 cellphone from the woman before raping her at knifepoint. The case was heard by Beitbridge regional magistrate Ms Charity Maphosa. Mukonowenzou had denied the robbery and rape charges, but the court convicted him on the State’s evidence.
The court imposed an effective eight-and-a-half-year sentence for the robbery and 15 years for rape, bringing the effective total to 24 years. The offence happened after Mukonowenzou went to the woman’s house while it was raining and knocked on her window, asking her to open the door for transactional sex.
Once inside, he grabbed her by the neck and demanded money and her cellphone. The woman handed over R200 and the Nokia phone, which were valued at R800 together. Mukonowenzou then raped her while threatening to stab her with an okapi if she screamed. He ordered her to open the door after the attack and left.
The woman told another tenant what had happened. She was advised to report the matter to the police, who later arrested Mukonowenzou.
Another case, heard in the south of the country, involved Thobani Moyo, a 32-year-old man from Ntabenende in Esigodini. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being convicted of raping a thigh vendor and taking R200 and her cellphone. Three years of the sentence were suspended on condition that he did not commit a similar offence within five years, leaving an effective 12-year jail term.
The court heard that Moyo met the woman at Ntabenende Business Centre at about 11pm on 11 March. He offered to pay for her services and she agreed to go with him to his home. When she asked to see the money before the encounter, he refused and insisted that he would pay afterwards.
The woman threatened to leave if he did not show her the money. Moyo then produced a knife and threatened to stab her if she did not follow his orders. He ordered her to remove her clothes and raped her before taking the R200 and cellphone. He then ordered her to leave the house.
The woman ran to a neighbouring home and told residents what had happened. The matter was reported to the police, leading to Moyo’s arrest. He had pleaded not guilty, but Gwanda regional magistrate Mrs Sibonginkosi Mkandla convicted him after hearing the evidence. Prosecutor Mr Khumbulani Nyoni presented the State’s case.
The 2020 conviction followed another incident in which a planned transaction became a violent attack. The woman had agreed to meet Moyo for sex, but the court heard that payment was disputed before the assault. The presence of an agreed commercial arrangement did not prevent the use of force, the knife threat or the theft that followed.
In an earlier Bulawayo case, two men were sentenced to a combined 40 years after an armed robbery in which a thigh vendor and her client were attacked. Sydney Dube, 43, of Lobengula West, was sentenced to 28 years, while Praymore Mpofu, 21, of Cowdray Park, received 12 years.
The incident took place in Old Magwegwe in the early hours of 21 April 2017. A 24-year-old sex worker had been hired by 18-year-old Azizi Sibanda from Izandlazonke Sports Bar for a night of sex. She took him to her cousin’s two-roomed house.
Two armed men entered the house at about 1am. They were carrying a rifle and a pistol and threatened to shoot the pair. Sibanda was ordered to strip, and his clothes, cash and iPhone 4S were taken.
One of the attackers force-marched the woman to a football ground near Ntshamathe Primary School. He produced a pistol, forced her to remove her clothes and raped her twice without protection. The second attacker stayed behind at the house and ransacked it, taking other property.
The woman reported the matter to the police and identified the suspects by their nicknames. Dube was arrested hours later, and police arrested Mpofu the following day at a house in Cowdray Park. Some of the stolen property was recovered, and Mpofu was found wearing Sibanda’s clothes.
The Bulawayo police spokesperson at the time confirmed that two men had been arrested in connection with the case. The arrest was followed by the sentences handed down to the two accused men, with the court imposing 28 years on Dube and 12 years on Mpofu.
The Mberengwa case began with an agreement to travel together for the night, but it ended on a dark path after a broken beer bottle was used to threaten a woman. The attack continued over a distance of about 100 metres and involved two separate rapes before approaching voices caused Moyo to run away.
The woman’s report at the police station, followed by medical examination at Mberengwa Hospital, set the investigation in motion. Moyo was arrested and later convicted on two counts of rape. He will now serve 17 years in prison for the illegal lula lula sessions that took place on the way to his home.