A 23-year-old woman escaped an attempted rape during an armed robbery at her home in Bulawayo after telling the attacker that she was living with HIV and taking antiretroviral medication.
The incident happened at about 2pm on August 24 in Tegela, where the woman was sitting in the yard when the armed man approached her and demanded money. She told him that she had none, but he allegedly forced her at gunpoint into a bedroom where an 82-year-old woman was sleeping.
The suspect threatened both women with a firearm and demanded cash. The women handed him US$10, which was inside the older woman’s handbag. After taking the money, the robber locked the 82-year-old inside the bedroom before taking the younger woman into another room.
Police said the suspect then tried to sexually assault her. Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Nomalanga Msebele said the man forced the woman to remove her clothes and touched her breast as he prepared to rape her.
“The accused person forced her to remove her clothes with the intention of raping her and proceeded to fondle her breast,” said Insp Msebele.
The woman told the attacker that she had AIDS and was taking antiretroviral medication. He reportedly became angry, insulted her and ordered her to put her clothes back on. He then left the room and fled from the property with the US$10.
The older woman was left locked inside the bedroom while the suspect escaped. Police have appealed to anyone who may have information that could help identify the man to report to the nearest police station.
The case has highlighted the danger faced by women inside their own homes, where robbery can quickly turn into sexual violence. In Tegela, the attacker did not simply demand property and leave. He used a firearm to control two women, separated them and then allegedly attempted to rape one of them after taking the small amount of money available in the house.
The Bulawayo attack comes as police and the courts deal with a series of cases in which home invasions have involved robbery, rape, kidnapping or threats of sexual violence. In Harare, two brothers were recently charged with 24 counts involving rape, aggravated indecent assault and robbery after a string of attacks on homes in and around the capital.
Fortune Ngoshi, 32, and Pride Ngoshi, 29, were arrested after the alleged attacks, which took place between June 19 and June 28. The pair were accused of operating with accomplices who remained at large and of using pistols, machetes, knives and other weapons while targeting households.
One of the alleged attacks took place at a home in White Cliff. The gang was accused of stealing cash, groceries and household property worth hundreds of US dollars. Several women and girls were allegedly sexually assaulted during the attacks, while other residents lost mobile phones, cash and valuables. Some of the alleged victims were juveniles.
The reported losses included more than US$2,800 in one incident and more than US$1,600 in another. Investigators recovered some of the property, including mobile phones, a laptop battery and a pistol allegedly used in one of the offences. Other items had not been recovered when the suspects appeared in court.
Another Harare case followed an alleged violent home invasion in Dzivaresekwa Extension on the evening of June 10. Godknows Wilson, 32, was accused of entering a residence, assaulting a man with a plank and stealing two mobile phones valued at US$500. He was also accused of raping the man’s wife in front of her husband before taking her to an unknown location. Her whereabouts were reported as unknown when the case came before the Harare Magistrates’ Court.
In Guruve, the court recently imposed an effective 89-year prison term on Anymore Zvitsva after he pleaded guilty to multiple counts of rape, attempted murder and robbery. The offences were linked to a wave of attacks that terrorised communities between late 2025 and early 2026.
The case left lasting damage for victims. One woman said the ordeal destroyed her marriage and prevented her from working, while the emotional scars remained despite the prison sentence. The conviction brought a formal end to the case, but it did not erase the impact of the attacks on those who were targeted.
In Bulawayo, the suspect remains unidentified and police are relying on information from the public to trace him. His alleged decision to abandon the sexual assault after the woman mentioned HIV prevented the attack from going further, but the incident left two women exposed to an armed intruder in their home and resulted in the older woman being locked inside a room.
Police have urged anyone who witnessed suspicious activity in Tegela on the afternoon of August 24, or who may know the suspect, to contact law enforcement. The investigation remains focused on identifying the armed man who entered the home, took US$10 and fled after allegedly attempting to rape the younger woman.