MDC widow gang raped and abandoned

Prisca Dausi (25) lost her husband in 2008 when Mashizha was abducted at the MDC-T party headquarters by alleged state security agents. The bodies of two of the people with whom Mashizha was abducted were later found near Ziko Business Centre in Seke. Mashizha’s body has never been found. The couple had two children together.

A year later, a Zanu (PF) activist, identified as Gibson from Epworth, raped Dausi. The woman was approached by the Zanu (PF) activist while fetching water late at night. “He demanded that I pay a dollar for the water, but I refused and that was when he wrestled me to the ground in front of my four-year-old daughter. I screamed and some residents came to my rescue, but he had already raped me,” said Dausi.

The matter was reported to the police who later referred her to Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare. A medical affidavit showed that she had been raped. However, the Zanu (PF) activist was acquitted when the matter went before the courts. What irks Dausi most is that she sees her abuser walking scot free every day.

In 2010, after the formation of the Government of National Unity, Dausi was gang-raped by law enforcement agents. She has no idea who the father of her two-year-old daughter is. Dausi received a call from the police who told her there were some dead bodies at Marondera mortuary. They suggested one of them could be her husband.

“When I went home, there was one police officer in uniform and two in plain clothes. They told me my husband could be one of the people whose bodies were in Marondera and they asked me to go. I agreed,” said Dausi.

En-route to the mortuary, the police officers were pestering her with questions over her involvement with the MDC-T.

“When we left Epworth, we headed towards Mabvuku and I became suspicious when they began to ask me why I had joined the MDC and what I was getting from the party. Later on, one of them said to his colleagues, “Toita sei nemunhu uyu?” (What shall we do with this person?)” said Dausi.

The young woman was pierced with a sharp object, which she assumes to have been a needle. She soon lost consciousness.

“I do not recall what happened next. I woke up the following day and discovered that I was at Harare Central Police Station. I was bleeding from the nose and was taken to Parirenyatwa Hospital. They referred me to the Counseling Services Unit where I received some counseling,” she said. Dausi later discovered that she was pregnant.

“A woman in my church bought me a pregnancy test and it showed that indeed I was pregnant. She advised me not to report the case because she feared I might be victimized or killed as the matter was very sensitive,” said Dausi.

The young woman is one of the widows who have received no support from the MDC-T on the death of their husbands.

“I received help from church members in taking care of my baby but I got nothing from the MDC. At the moment, I am not getting anything from the party.”

Dausi said her life was in danger but she had no choice but to remain in Epworth.

“It is my wish to move away from Epworth to a much safer place but if I go somewhere else, where will I get the money to pay rent? That is why I have remained in Epworth. It’s not my wish to stay there but I am forced by circumstances to put my life at risk by remaining in the area,” said Dausi.