THE two Harare touts who undressed and indecently assaulted a city woman as she passed by Fourth Street (now Simon Muzenda Street) bus rank on December 17 last year have been jailed 12 months each.
BY PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI
Blessing Chinodakufa and Marvellous Kandemiri, will, however, serve effective eight-month jail terms each after trial magistrate Renikah Dzikiti yesterday suspended four months of their sentences on condition of good behaviour.
In passing sentence, Dzikiti said the conduct shown by the two when they undressed the woman at bus rank had deeply traumatised the woman.
“The circumstances under which this offence was committed shows a barbaric and diabolic attitude on the part of the accused persons,” Dzikiti said.
“The complainant was so traumatised and you can never know the depth of that trauma. If it was not for the videos (of the incident), we would have never known the culprits.”
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She also said the offence demanded that the offenders be imprisoned because a non-custodial sentence would trivialise the offence.
The court heard during trial that Chinodakufa and Kandemiri, together with several co–accused persons still at large, stripped the woman when she arrived at the terminus on her way to Ruwa.
Although the complainant made efforts to cover herself up, the two prevented her from doing so as they continued pulling her dress up and lowering her panties with the intention of removing it.
The complainant temporarily escaped and tried to get into a parked commuter omnibus for safety, but the touts grabbed her legs and pulled her out of the vehicle and labelled her a prostitute as they pulled off her dress.
The woman only managed to flee to safety when the driver of another commuter omnibus offered to drive her away on condition she paid $2.
Chinodakufa and Kandemiri were arrested after leaked video footage of the incident went viral on social media networks.
The complainant later filed a police report.