A 23-year-old married man from Southerton is reported to have gone into hiding after a former school girlfriend accused him of raping her in a bushy area beside the railway line near Lytton Road.
Anotenda Simbanegavi is said to have offered the woman a lift to Harare’s central business district after picking her up at a bus stop. During the journey, he allegedly tried to rekindle their relationship. The woman told him she did not want to resume it, and says he then drove to the railway line area and raped her.
She reported the matter at Southerton Police Station, where it was recorded under reference number RRB 6660332. She was later taken to Sally Mugabe Central Hospital for a medical examination.
The woman said she and Simbanegavi had been in a relationship while they were at school, but that it ended in 2020. She said they had never had sexual intercourse during the relationship.
“Simbanegavi ruined my life. We had ended our school-time relationship in 2020 and we had never engaged in sexual intercourse. He offered me a lift with the wrong motive and wanted to revive the relationship. I turned him down, and he raped me.”
Simbanegavi’s mother said she learned about the case from her son’s wife and that her son had gone into hiding. She said she was shocked by the accusation and referred to the family’s circumstances.
“I was shocked to hear about the rape case facing my son from his wife. He had started supporting the family.”
Police could not be reached for comment.
The account describes how the woman accepted a lift from a former partner she knew from school, then says she was taken to an area beside the railway line after rejecting his attempt to restart their relationship. Her complaint was made at Southerton Police Station, and the hospital examination followed the report.
A separate case involving a musician and a 19-year-old pregnant band member has also been reported in Harare. Luckson Midzi, 36, of the Phiri Gwenya and Vibrant Mbira group, which is based in Hopley, was arrested on Wednesday in connection with an allegation that he raped the woman in a parked vehicle near the Mbare Flyover.
A relative of the woman said Midzi and her mother had allegedly agreed that he would pay the woman’s school fees and marry her after she finished school. The relative said the woman’s mother agreed when Midzi called on October 8 and asked for the woman to accompany him to a show the following day.
At about 2pm on October 9, the woman met Midzi at his workplace, a shop at Gulf Complex in Harare, according to the relative. While she waited there, Midzi allegedly brought her an open bottle of Cascade drink and some chips.
At about 4pm, Midzi hired a taxi to take them from the complex to Fidel Castro Road in the central business district. The relative said the pair then got into another vehicle, which the woman believed belonged to Midzi.
The relative said Midzi drove to an open space near the Mbare Flyover and questioned the woman about why she had married another man instead of waiting for him. She told him she had married the other man because she had become pregnant with his child, the relative said.
The woman then began to feel dizzy and fell asleep, according to the account. Afterwards, Midzi allegedly gave her US$20 for bus fare. She boarded a commuter omnibus and went home, where she told her husband about the incident. The relative said that led to Midzi’s arrest.
“There is a big issue behind this case,” the relative said.
The case was reported at Kopje Police Station under reference number IR 101907/26. National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi could not be reached for comment.
The 2 reports concern separate incidents and different police stations. In Southerton, the former school girlfriend’s complaint was recorded after she reported the alleged attack and was taken for a medical examination. In the Mbare matter, the relative’s account describes a planned outing, travel between 2 locations and the woman’s return home before the report was made.
Neither police station had provided a comment in the available accounts.