JOB SEEKER DRUGGED, RAPED:

A 42-YEAR-OLD Gweru man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for drugging, raping and kidnapping a 23-year-old job seeker.

Christopher Gara of 12 Denham, Gweru, appeared before Gweru regional magistrate Mr Morgan Nemadire facing three counts of rape.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges, but was convicted due to overwhelming evidence.

Mr Nemadire treated the three counts as one for the purposes of sentencing.

Gara will spend an effective 15 years behind bars after three years of the sentence were suspended on condition of good behaviour.

It was the State case that on September 9 last year, Gara met the woman who was looking for a job as a domestic worker at Spar Supermarket in Gweru.

Gara lied to the complainant that there was a person he knew who was looking for a domestic worker in Athlone suburb. He offered to take her to the house. The court heard that they boarded a commuter omnibus using Mvuma Road and they disembarked at a junction after Pfende Business Centre.

Gara then gave the complainant three pills to take, claiming they were antibiotics.

It was not stated in court why the complainant took the pills, but after taking them, she then started feeling dizzy.

It is at that moment that Gara pounced, as he carried her into the bush.

He stripped her before raping her without protection.

Later that day, he moved her to another bushy area where he raped her again.

He then pretended to be on a phone call and assured the complainant that the woman who wanted the services of a domestic worker was still waiting for them.

Gara held the complainant hostage until midnight before taking her to his lodgings, where he raped her for the third time.

The following morning, Gara offered the woman bread and warm water before she went back to her house, where she narrated her ordeal.

A report was made to the police, leading to Gara’s arrest.