By SIMBARASHE SITHOLE
THREE soldiers were on Tuesday arraigned before Guruve Magistrates’ Court facing an armed robbery charge.
Joseph Hlongwane (24), Twice Kamuriwo (28) and Wellington Ngwarati (31) were not asked to plead before magistrate Artwell Sanyatwe.
He remanded them in custody to February 17 and they are to appear at the Bindura Regional Court.
The State alleges that on October 29 last year, the trio was patrolling along the Zambezi River, Kanyemba, when they met the complainant Rakidho Rabeka who was in the company of his friends Tobias Chimata and Nobert Chimata carrying 15 bags of shelled maize.
The soldiers, who were all carrying AK47 rifles and dressed in military gear, approached the complainant and advised him that he was under arrest for smuggling maize.
The soldiers forced the Chimata brothers to fetch nine buckets of water from the river and ordered the complainant to roll in the mud. The accused took turns to assault the complainant with sticks, while forcing him to sing revolutionary songs.
After hours of repeated assaults, the complainant was forced to load the maize in a canoe and was taken to Kanyemba Police Station where they made the complainant to off-load his maize into the soldiers’ barracks.
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He was ordered to leave the police camp and never reported the matter to anyone.
Rabeka fled and returned two days later at the police camp where he reported the robbery case, leading to the arrest of the soldiers. Carson Kundiona represented the State.
