HARARE – A police officer has been arrested accused of raping his 16-year-old biological daughter at a police station.
Police are investigating the New Year’s Day incident at Senga police camp in Gweru after the teenager claimed she had been raped inside a car whilst drunk.
Police say she previously reported being raped by two other relatives, including her stepfather who is based in South Africa.
The 37-year-old police constable, who cannot be named to protect the alleged victim’s identity, appeared before a Gweru magistrate and was held without bail.
Police said the alleged victim, her stepmother and stepfather were drinking whisky on New Year’s Eve waiting to celebrate the New Year.
The complainant, her stepmother and her siblings went outside just after midnight to celebrate the New Year but were allegedly ordered back into the house by the father.
“The complainant then went outside the house at around 1AM and entered into the accused person’s Toyota Porte vehicle which was parked outside the house. The complainant started vomiting and the accused person came and told her to stay inside the car until he comes back,” an internal police memo of the incident said.
“After about 10 minutes, the accused person entered into the vehicle, tried to communicate with the complainant but she could not respond since she was continuously vomiting.”
Police said the police officer then raped his daughter once without using protection.
Whilst inside the vehicle, the accused person removed complainant’s clothes, opened his trousers button, pulled the trousers down and lifted the complainant and made her sit on his erect penis.
The officer reportedly gave his daughter a cloth to cover her body and ordered her to go inside the house where she quickly fell asleep.
The victim allegedly woke up with a throbbing headache and was given painkillers by her father.
At around 8PM, police said she called her stepfather in South Africa and informed her that she had been raped by her father. Ironically, the ZRP has sought Interpol’s help in arresting the stepfather for allegedly raping his stepdaughter in March 2018.
On the morning of January 2, police said the teen’s mother sent her brother to assist her in filing a police report leading to her father’s arrest.
The teenager has another rape complaint filed with St Mary’s police in Chitungwiza.
Senga police said the complainant was “apparently prone to rape cases by close male relatives hence there is need for her to be placed in an environment where she is not taken advantage off” while committing to “thorough investigations to ensure that no miscarriage of justice occurs.”
