A suspected serial rapist from Filabusi has been arrested for allegedly raping his 22-year-old neighbour, CITE has heard.
Clive Bell, 26, who was drunk at the time when he committed the offence, fell asleep after sexually violating the victim and she seized the opportunity to make a call to the police leading to his arrest.
A source close to the investigations who spoke to CITE said Bell is a well-known criminal who has been on the police wanted list for a series of crimes he allegedly committed in Filabusi and Esigodini.
“The rape incident occurred in the wee hours of January 29 at around 2 AM. Bell arrived at the victim’s house and knocked several times on the door without any response. He peeped through the window and inside the victim was sleeping in the company of her 24-year-old cousin,” the source said.
“Bell forcibly opened the door with an unknown object and started throwing beer bottles and stones inside the bedroom. He hit the victim’s cousin on the head before force-marching the victim (who was naked) to his house.”
The source narrated that upon arrival at his house at Nkankezi Business Centre he realised that he did not have his keys so they returned to the victim’s house.
“When they arrived, the cousin had already fled. Bell forced the victim to lie on her bed where there were broken pieces of glass from the bottles he had thrown in earlier and he raped her once. Due to his drunken state he immediately fell asleep after the violation. The victim seized the opportunity and sneaked out. She looked for contact details for Filabusi ZRP and made a report leading to the subsequent arrest of Bell,” said the source.
The source said the victim was sent to Filabusi District Hospital where she received medical assistance.
“Bell has two more rape cases in Filabusi and is on the wanted list. He has another assault case pending in Filabusi while Esigodini police are also looking for him for another rape case.”
Matabeleland South police spokesperson Loveness Mangena was not available for comment as her phone number was not reachable.
