Police arrest teen rapist, killer

Zim Now Writer

A 17-year-old male juvenile has been arrested by Inyathi police for allegedly assaulting, raping and killing an eight-year-old girl.

The Longwe Primary School girl’s body was found in a decomposing state a week later.

It is alleged that the eight-year-old asked to be excused so that she could use the toilet and never returned to class.

“The mother of the now deceased went to her daughter’s school in search of her and was informed that she had left before break time. She continued in search of her to no avail and filed a report of a missing person to the police in Inyathi on 24 October. The police joined forces with the villagers in search of the missing child.

“On 27 October at around 10pm, the villagers found the body of the missing child in a bushy area in Longwe, Inyathi with blood-stained stones besides her and immediately informed the police who attended the scene,” said Matabeleland North Spokesperson Inspector Glory Banda in confirming the matter.

Insp Banda said Lupane CID revisited the scene and gathered information that led to the arrest of the suspect, who said he had seen girl leaving school through an illegal exit and ambushed her. He assaulted her several times with a stone and on noticing that she was unconscious, he raped her with.

Dissuading from engaging in heinous acts, Banda urged members of the public to have respect for human life.