Harare – A 62-year-old man, Daniel Chauke, has been sentenced to 133 years imprisonment for a string of horrific crimes, including seven counts of rape and murder. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed the sentence via their X (formerly Twitter) account, detailing the shocking brutality of Chauke’s actions.
While he will serve an effective 60 years, the lengthy sentence reflects the gravity of his crimes against vulnerable women, ranging in age from 23 to 71.
Chauke’s reign of terror spanned several villages, targeting women in isolated locations. His modus operandi involved approaching victims under false pretences, often feigning a need for assistance or using deceptive tactics to lure them into secluded areas. Once isolated, he subjected his victims to brutal sexual assaults, often culminating in their murders.
The court heard harrowing details of Chauke’s crimes. In one particularly disturbing incident, he raped and murdered a woman before savagely attacking her dog with a machete, dismembering the animal. In another case, he raped and killed a woman, then mutilated her body by cutting out her private parts before stealing her underwear and a piece of cloth from the scene. The sheer brutality and calculated nature of these acts highlight the depravity of Chauke’s actions.
The NPA’s statement confirmed that Chauke’s initial charges of three counts of rape and murder were later expanded to include six additional rape charges. The prosecution successfully proved his guilt in all seven rape and murder cases. The evidence presented during the trial painted a chilling picture of a man who preyed upon vulnerable women, using deceit and violence to achieve his horrific ends.
One of the detailed accounts presented to the court involved the rape of a 69-year-old woman returning from her fields. Chauke falsely accused her grandchildren of stealing his possessions, using this as a pretext to attack her. He struck her, causing her to fall, then bound her hands and covered her mouth before dragging her into a bushy area where he raped her and stole her cellphone.
The prosecution detailed six similar attacks between July 2022 and April of this year. His victims ranged in age from 23 to 71 years old, demonstrating a pattern of targeting women across a wide age range. The consistency of his methods, the brutality of his attacks, and the selection of vulnerable victims all contributed to the strength of the prosecution’s case.
Two of the murders involved particularly gruesome details. On October 21, 2022, Chauke raped and strangled Ruth Sithole, whom he found working in her field. After the murder, he brutally attacked her dog with a machete. He was later found in possession of a spoon belonging to the victim. In another incident on April 24, 2023, he murdered Honeni Manaka after she rejected his advances. He raped her, then used a knife to mutilate her body before fleeing with her underwear.
Chauke’s arrest on May 27, 2023, in Usanga, Chipinge, brought an end to his terrifying spree. The evidence gathered against him, including witness testimonies and forensic evidence, proved overwhelming.
