Woman Burns Through Shoelaces to Escape Rapist

A 30-year-old man has been jailed for an effective 15 years after raping a 23-year-old woman twice during a two-day ordeal in which he abducted, assaulted and tied her to a tree before she escaped by burning through her restraints.

The man was convicted on two counts of rape by the Gwanda Regional Magistrates' Court and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on each count, with the sentences ordered to run concurrently.

The State told the court that on October 14, 2026, the offender encountered the woman near some ruined houses close to Mount Gazalet.

He grabbed her from behind, produced an okapi knife and threatened her before dragging her into nearby bushes, south of Old Gwanda Road.

When she resisted, he allegedly struck her four times on the cheeks, removed her clothes and raped her.

He later moved her to a secluded shack south-east of the Bulawayo-Beitbridge Road, where he held her against her will.

On October 15, he tied her to a tree using shoelaces before later returning, untying her and taking her into his shack, where he raped her again.

The woman managed to escape using a small green pocket lighter to burn through the shoelaces and free herself.

She fled and stopped a taxi along the Beitbridge-Gwanda Road, where she reported the ordeal to a passer-by who helped contact her parents.

She subsequently reported the matter to the police, leading to the man's arrest.

In sentencing, the court considered the use of a weapon, repeated assaults, prolonged captivity and the degrading manner in which the victim was restrained as aggravating circumstances.