MARTIN MAWAYA
GWERU – A woman has recounted horrific acts of sexual abuse at the hands of Chinese nationals at Jingxi Rishen Chrome Mine, located in the Mapanzure area of Zvishavane, 40 km from Shurugwi.
During a hearing before Gweru Regional Magistrate Christopher Maturure, the woman (name withheld) detailed her traumatic experiences of alleged repeated rape by three Chinese nationals.
She described harrowing accounts of sexual violence perpetrated by her bosses, who treated her as a sex slave and gang-raped her multiple times in her confined cabin at the mine.
The accused Guo Ling Zhong (44), Teng Jiadong (55), and Li Xuang (37) would allegedly take turns forcing her into non-consensual oral, anal and vaginal sex.
At one point, when she attempted to bite Guo Ling Zhong’s private parts, she was met with severe physical retaliation.
The court heard that the perpetrators took her explicit photographs while naked and threatened to kill her if she reported the abuses to other employees.
The crimes came to light on August 9, when the complainant confided in her sister about her ordeal.
She reported the matter to the police on August 11 and sought medical treatment at Kwekwe Hospital.
While reporting to the Zvishavane police, officers from the Victim Friendly Unit allegedly pressured her to withdraw the case, claiming the Chinese nationals were willing to pay her $7,000 as compensation.
“Initially I refused the offer, but later accepted it with the intention of using it as evidence in court. However, the plans were thwarted when I was arrested together with my brother by Zvishavane police officers on fabricated extortion charges,” which she claimed was an attempt to derail the case.
In court, evidence suggested that money may have changed hands to cover up the crimes, including the disappearance of her Kwekwe Hospital medical examination records from the police, which documented injuries consistent with her account of abuse.
The complainant also implicated the Chinese ambassador, an unnamed lawyer from Zvishavane, and a commissioner of oaths who attempted to stifle the case.
She rejected a medical report presented in court by Dr. Blessing Hwambiwa, insisting she had not been examined by him but rather by a senior nurse who merely asked her questions and filled out the form.
The medical report dated August 14 confirmed possibility of penetration.
In his judgment, Magistrate Maturure criticized the police for their handling of the case, stating that their incompetence led to the loss of critical evidence.
He concluded that the prosecution failed to meet the legal standards for admissibility of evidence, resulting in the acquittal of the three men on all eight counts.
The 47-year-old survivor, a mother of six, broke down during her testimony, lamenting that her life had been irreparably damaged.
She now relies on piecework at a nearby farm to support her family, and told the court that she is feeling unsafe and traumatized.
In their defense, through their defense counsel Tonderai Chitere, the accused persons claimed that they had never entered the complainant’s cabin, citing company policies against such visits.
They alleged that the complainant was fired and attempted to extort money, leading to her false allegations.
However, their testimonies contradicted each other, with Teng Jiadong stating that the complainant was not fired, while Guo Zhong insisted she had been dismissed.
According to the state’s case, on July 15, 2024, the trio invaded the complainant’s cabin, undressing her and taking pictures without her consent.
The court heard that on August 15, Guo Ling Zhong forcibly removed her clothes and assaulted her orally, further detailing a pattern of sexual violence that persisted throughout July 16 to August 4, 2024 by the three Chinese nationals.
Statistics from the Zimbabwe Gender Commission reveal that 22 women are raped daily in the country, with an average of 646 women sexually abused monthly, and one in three girls raped or sexually assaulted before reaching the age of 18.
