Woman burns through shoelaces with lighter to escape rapist after two-day ordeal

A 30-year-old man from Gwanda has been jailed for an effective 15 years after being convicted of raping a 23-year-old woman twice and holding her against her will for two days.

The Gwanda Regional Magistrates’ Court convicted and sentenced the man on two counts of rape.

The court heard that on 14 October, the offender encountered the woman near ruined houses close to Mount Gazalet. He grabbed her from behind, produced an okapi knife and threatened her before dragging her into bushes south of Old Gwanda Road.

When the woman resisted, he struck her four times on the cheek and raped her.

Later that same day, he moved her to a secluded shack south-east of the Bulawayo-Beitbridge Road, where he held her captive overnight.

On 15 October, he tied her to a tree using shoelaces. He later returned, untied her and took her into the shack, where he raped her for a second time.

The woman eventually managed to free herself by using a small green pocket lighter to burn through the shoelaces. She fled and stopped a taxi along the Beitbridge-Gwanda Road, where she told a passer-by about her ordeal. The passer-by helped her contact her parents.

She later made a report to the police, leading to the man’s arrest and subsequent conviction.

The court sentenced the offender to 15 years’ imprisonment for each count and ordered the sentences to run concurrently, leaving him with an effective 15 years to serve.

In a separate case, the Bulawayo Regional Magistrates’ Court sentenced a 29-year-old Nyamandlovu man to an effective 15 years in prison for repeatedly raping his 13-year-old former stepdaughter.

The court heard that sometime in 2024, the girl’s mother went to cut thatching grass, leaving her in the offender’s care. He ordered her into his bedroom hut, raped her and told her not to tell anyone.

In 2025, he again took advantage of the mother’s absence and raped the girl a second time.

On 9 September 2026, he lured her into his bedroom and raped her a third time, warning her not to disclose the abuse.

The girl revealed what had happened on 19 September to a neighbour, who assisted her in making a police report.

The man was arrested and subsequently convicted. He was sentenced to 15 years for each of the three counts, with the sentences to run concurrently.