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Whinsley Masara, Chronicle Reporter
AN 18-YEAR-OLD man from Umguza in Matabeleland North is on the run after he allegedly assaulted a 52-year-old granny and raped her while she was unconscious.

Obvious Ncube (18), who lives at Intubeni Farm under Chief Deli, allegedly stripped the woman naked and left her tied to a tree for about seven hours.

The elderly woman was on her way to church when Ncube pounced at around 11AM on Saturday.

He allegedly threatened to stab her to death with a knife her if she told anyone about the sex attack.

The woman, from Umguzane Block, only got help from passersby at around 6PM.

A villager, Mr Nondo Moyo, said Ncube, a notorious thug in Nyamandlovu, assaulted the woman before raping and stripping her naked.

“The criminal has no shame at all; having the guts to rape and even go on to strip a woman old enough to be his grandmother.

“She was lucky to be discovered by some villagers who used the path deep in the bush because she could have died of hunger or been eaten by wild animals,” he said.

Mr Moyo said Ncube approached the elderly woman from behind and struck her on the head with a knobkerrie.

He said the granny fell to the ground, unconscious.

“He dragged her for more than 50 metres into the bush where he raped her once before removing her clothes.

“The crazy young man tied both the woman’s hands and legs with shoe laces and used part of her clothes to tie her onto a tree before fleeing from the farm,” Mr Moyo said.

Another villager only identified as MaTshuma said it was sad to find a stark naked old woman tied to a tree.

“Men of today have lost their morals because to do all that to a person from the community that he lives in is disgusting.

“This young man has done many bad things but because he’s a feared character, the community has never made serious efforts to have him arrested,” said MaTshuma.

“We don’t know his permanent home but every time he commits a crime, he vanishes from the village and when he resurfaces, no one pays attention.

“We hope this time police will catch the thug and have him sent to jail because he has become a threat to the community.”

Matabeleland North police spokesperson Sergeant Namatirai Mashona said she was looking for the report.

@winnie-masara.