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Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
TWO police officers based at Cowdray Park police base have been arrested for allegedly raping a 19-year-old theft suspect.
Constable Norman Njaya was arrested on Sunday, while his colleauge Constable Constantine Musetwa was arrested  on the following day after they allegedly took turns to rape the suspect, who was being accused of stealing some clothes and money from a Good Samaritan who had offered her accommodation in December last year.

Sources told The Chronicle yesterday that the Good Samaritan only identified as Sipho apprehended the suspect on Sunday and ordered her to remove her panties and shoes before surrendering her to the police.

Njaya is alleged to have later asked the suspect   whether it was true that she was not wearing panties.

“The suspect confirmed and Njaya took her to an empty room close to the charge office and demanded to see for himself. She complied and Njaya grabbed her by the waist and raped her once without using protection while Musetwa was on guard,” she said.

“Njaya ordered the suspect to go and bath in a toilet at the police base. After bathing, Musetwa took her back to the room and raped her once without protection before releasing her.”

Sipho yesterday told The Chronicle that when she left the suspect one of the police officers told her that he would rape the suspect and she thought it was a joke.

She added that when she came back, she only found one police officer while his colleague and the suspect were not there.

“I asked him where the two had gone and he told me that the girl had escaped. While I was still interrogating the police officer, his colleague appeared with his buttons out of order. He also told me that the girl had escaped. I immediately sensed that there was something wrong and I told them I didn’t understand why they would let go of a suspect, whom they had actually failed to arrest,” she said.

She added that the suspect appeared later in the company of four police officers from Luveve Police Station.

“I asked what was going on and the girl revealed that she had been raped by the two accused. She said they took turns to rape her without using protection before she ran away and boarded a kombi.

“A police officer noticed that she was crying and identified himself before asking her what had transpired. She told him what had happened and he took her to Luveve Police Station where she made a report,” said Sipho. Njaya, she added, was immediately arrested, while Musetwa was arrested yesterday. The suspect was taken to Mpilo Central Hospital for medical examination and treatment, while Nyaya and Musetwa are detained at Luveve Police Station.

Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo could not be reached for comment.