In a disturbing turn of events, a 62 year old suspected serial rapist and killer Daniel Chauke’s trial will commence today on a continuous roll at the Chipinge Magistrates’ Court. He is facing six counts of rape.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe, the alleged crimes occurred between April 2022 and April 2023 in the Chipinge district. Chauke is accused of targeting multiple elderly women, approaching them under the pretence of theft accusations before violently assaulting and raping them in remote, secluded areas.
The state alleges that the accused person raped a woman (69) who was coming from her field on the 3rd of April 2022. He approached the complainant and told her that her grandchildren had stolen his property at his house. He hit the complainant once on the right cheek causing her to fall. He tied her hands and mouth and force-marched her into a bushy area where he committed the offence.
The accused person is further alleged to have raped a 60 year old woman who was harvesting maize in her field on the 3rd of May 2022. He accused the complainant of stealing an animal he had trapped using a snare before force-marching her into a bushy area where he raped her. After the act, he took the complainant’s phone and walked away.
Chauke is alleged to have committed four more similar offenses involving a 46 year old woman, a 23 year old woman, a 71 year old woman and a 36 year old woman between July 2022 and April this year. He was arrested on the 27th of May 2024 at Usange in Chipinge.
He is also facing three counts of murder.
