Cop rapes accused woman in charge office

court

A CITY cop who allegedly raped a woman at a police station appeared before regional magistrate Peter Kumbawa at the Harare magistrate’s court on a rape charge.

 Allen Mberi (28) of Glen View 1 is alleged to have raped Dambudzo (not her real name) who resides at Tagarika Flats in Mbare. The prosecutor, Mr Cuthbert Mukandire, told the court that on May 21 this year, a policeman went to Tagarika Flats to arrest Dambudzo.

 She had been accused of stealing from a washing line a jacket belonging to a fellow tenant, Ms Patience Maphosa. Ms Maphosa accompanied the policeman.

He ordered Ms Dambudzo to put on her clothes and accompany them to Matapi police station. The policeman and Patience left the flat before Ms Dambudzo had finished dressing up. She followed the two to Matapi police station where she found they had not yet arrived.

She entered the charge office. She found Mberi seated behind the police enquiries counter. He called her to the far end of the counter.  He asked her why she had been brought to the charge office. After giving him her side of the story, Mberi told her that Patience Maphosa had reported that she had stolen her jacket from the washing line at their flats.

He also told her he was the investigating officer in the matter. It is alleged he then took her to the investigations office inside the charge office. There, he ordered her to wait for him. Ms Dambudzo waited for more than an hour before Mberi returned.
He asked her to accompany him to another office located behind the charge office.

It is alleged he lied to the young woman that he would deal with the theft matter there, in a wooden cabin. When they got into the wooden office, Mberi pulled a bench and asked the woman to take a seat. Then she asked about the darkness in the cabin. Mberi said he would switch on the light which he said was located behind the cabin.

It is alleged he grabbed her trousers and pulled it down to her feet. He then raped her after pinning down her to the floor. After he was done, Ms Dambudzo screamed for help as she ran out of the cabin. She ran into the charge office and reported the matter. The magistrate remanded Mberi in custody to June 9. He was not asked to plead. He was told to apply for bail at the High Court.