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Freeman Razemba Crime Reporter

CID Homicide is now central in the investigations of the 35-year-old Harare man who turned into a serial rapist, attacking 16 minor girls on ritual beliefs in a four-month reign of terror in Glen View and Budiriro suburbs.

Almost all crimes of extreme violence such as murder, armed robbery, rape and kidnapping, are dealt with by CID Homicide if detailed investigations are needed.

The suspected rapist, who had no fixed abode, is suspected to have committed other serious crimes before he was arrested on Tuesday.

He is believed to have committed these crimes while in the company of five accomplices who are still at large.

The six are suspected to have been living at a squatter camp in Rugare area near Kambuzuma. Police in Glen View on Tuesday visited the squatter camp, but could not locate any of the other five.

The suspect was yesterday being questioned at Harare Central Police Station and is expected to appear in court soon.

He was apprehended on Tuesday morning after he had returned to the house of one of the victims he had raped and was identified before being handed over to the police.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said investigations were still in progress.

“The matter is now being handled by CID Homicide as investigations continue,” he said.

In what is turning out to be one of the biggest cases of rape and sexual assault in recent times, a knife-wielding rapist broke into several houses between September last year and this week where he threatened to harm the girls before raping them or sexually assaulting them in other ways.

Apart from sexually attacking the young girls, the rapist would also steal gas tanks, cellphones and other household items.

Residents in the two suburbs and surrounding areas have been living in perpetual fear of the rapist. Tuesday’s arrest of a suspect will hopefully end the attacks.

The suspect was linked to 14 rapes and other sexual assaults in Glen View and two others in Budiriro since September last year.

To heighten suspicion that he was doing it for ritual purposes, the man would first ask his victims if they had been sexually intimate with another man before.

If the answer was in the negative, he would proceed to rape the girls and if it was in the affirmative, he would molest the victim and leave.

His arrest comes after police in Harare recently warned residents that there was a serial rapist on the loose in these areas.

Following investigations, the suspect, whose name is still being withheld for fear of jeopardising investigations and to protect the victims, was arrested at Churu Farm near Glen View 1.

He is believed to have raped girls aged between seven and 14 at Churu Farm, Glen View and Dare Rechimurenga housing section of Budiriro.

In a statement last week, Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspector Luckmore Chakanza confirmed that they were looking for the suspect saying by that time, they had received five similar rape reports.

He said in the latest five cases recorded, the perpetrator broke into houses, threatened the girls and asked if they had engaged in any sexual activities before.