Women found with used condoms charged

Oct 14, 2011, 21:34 GMT

Harare - Three women caught in possession of 33 used condoms full of semen were charged with aggravated indecent assault after 17 men alleged they had been raped by the women.

The three women in their mid-20s were arraigned before a magistrate court Friday. They were not legally represented and are to appear in court again in two weeks when more charges are expected to be brought.

State prosecutors claimed the women 'spiked' drinks of would-be victims between 2010 and 2011. Police said the women might have been part of a gang that they had been looking for in connection with reported cases of men claiming to have been sexually assaulted by women.

A police officer told dpa that 17 men had positively identified the women as having raped them, resulting in the 17 charges.

The three were arrested along with a man earlier this week after their vehicle was involved in an accident in Gweru city, about 300 kilometres southwest of Harare.

A police station in Gweru was reportedly besieged by hundreds of people wanting to catch a glimpse of the four, particularly the women, who are believed to be regular patrons of the city's nightclubs. On Tuesday, they were taken to Harare.

Watch Ruparanganda, a professor of sociology at the University of Zimbabwe, said, sperm was often used in rituals because it is associated with the regeneration of life.

'People believe that sperms can make someone's luck improve,' he said, adding that unscrupulous businessmen were behind the attacks.

Zimbabwe's Daily News paper reported Tuesday that semen, used in rituals, was selling like 'hot cakes' in neighbouring South Africa, where a condom full of the fluid could fetch as much as 400 dollars.