A serial rapist who embarked on a reign of terror in which he broke into people’s homes and raped several women in Hatfield, Queensdale and Cranborne in 2012 has been found guilty of 30 counts of rape and unlawful entry.
BY SENIOR REPORTER
Thomas Brighton Chirembwe (28) was yesterday convicted by Harare regional magistrate Simon Rogers Kachambwa and will be sentenced today.
Prosecutor Michael Reza told the court that only a sentence exceeding 90 years in prison will meet the justice of the case.
Reza said between September 18, 2011 and November 6, 2012, Chirembwe was a “one man urban terrorist” who broke into people’s homes and raped 13 women.
“He moved around with appropriate tools of the trade; that is an iron rod, knife, spanners and his manhood in his trousers. The crimes were preplanned. He was callous because rape is the worst form of invasion of privacy and robbery is a very traumatic experience,” he said in aggravation.
Chirembwe stole valuables worth thousands of dollars and a total of $1 500 cash after raping the women without using protection, armed with a knife or spanners which he used to threaten the women while demanding cash from them.
One of his targeted victims survived the abuse after she went down on her knees and prayed, forcing Chirembwe to spare her.
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Another victim survived after telling him she was HIV positive while the other said she was on her monthly menstrual period.
The court heard that during trial on September 1, 2012 at around 3 o’clock in the morning, Chirembwe pounced on a Queensdale woman and raped her thrice before stealing household property and cash.
On September 18, 2012 at around 4 o’clock in the morning, a 31-year-old woman was sleeping in her bedroom when she heard some noise coming from outside. She saw Chirembwe walking into her house armed with a knife.
Chirembwe switched off the lights and demanded money from her and she gave him $30. Chirembwe raped her once.
