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Crime Reporter
A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on allegations of robbing a man of his itel cellphone at knife point in Greendale, Harare, on Sunday.

The teenager ran away, but was caught when his victim raised alarm and alerted members of the public who chased him and took him to the police.

Police have expressed concern over the increase in cases of teenagers involved in criminal activities.

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident.

“We are investigating a case in which a male juvenile aged 17 was arrested on October 18 after robbing a 22-year-old man at knife point in Greendale, Harare,” he said.

“The suspect robbed the victim of an itel cellphone and ran away.

“The victim raised an alarm, leading to the arrest of the suspect and recovery of the cellphone.”

The latest incident comes after two teenagers were recently arrested on allegations of raping two girls aged eight and 15 in separate incidents in Chitungwiza.

In one of the cases, the suspect aged 13 allegedly raped an eight-year-old girl while she was playing at his house in Chitungwiza.

He dragged her into his bedroom and raped her once.

In the other incident, a 16-year-old boy raped a 15-year-old girl at their house in Zengeza.

The suspect, who resides at the same house with the victim, but is not related to her, sneaked into her blankets and raped her once.

In June 2018, a Gutu teenager was sentenced to eight years in jail for teaming up with a colleague who was on the run to rape a 10-year-old girl.

In August 2015, a 17-year-old HIV positive teenager who raped a toddler was exposed by an anonymous caller who revealed the matter to the police after the mother had tried to conceal the case.

The boy appeared before a Harare magistrate and pleaded for forgiveness after he was convicted of raping the three-year-old girl.

The suspected rapist and the toddler were cousins.

In July last year, 15 suspected armed robbers — including five teenagers — who were terrorising residents and motorists in separate incidents in Harare and Chinhoyi were arrested.