Police have expressed concern at the upsurge in cases of juveniles being raped by relatives and domestic violence cases in Bulawayo.
Bulawayo recorded an upsurge in domestic violence and rape cases in the month of December 2018 and January 2019.
Police say as of December 2018, the domestic violence cases rose by 32 percent, and in January 2019, the cases rose by to an even higher margin of 43 percent.
The majority of the victims were women who were physically abused in their homes by their husbands, with most domestic violence cases resulting in murder cases, says Commissioner Charity Charamba who was part of the delegation that attended the Chiefs’ Spouses Interface in Bulawayo.
“Quite disturbing are cases of rape that are on the increase in the province. Female juveniles are being raped by their close relatives like fathers, brothers, uncles and cousins whilst in some instances they are raped by their neighbours,” said Commissioner Charamba.
In one of the cases that occurred on an unknown date in January 2019 in Nkulumane suburb, a 20-year old male reportedly raped two seven-year old girls, who are his neighbours.
It is alleged the accused lured the complainants into his bedroom where he raped them once each on different occasions.
In another incident, which occurred in January 2019 in Tshabalala, a five year old was left in the custody of the accused, an 18 -year old man, by her parents who were going to attend a funeral.
He took advantage of the parents’ absence and raped the toddler once.