GWERU regional magistrate Christopher Maturure on Friday sentenced serial rapist Obert Ncube (29) to an effective 31 years in prison.

Ncube also faced a robbery charge.

Maturure sentenced Ncube to 15 years each for the two rape counts, while he handed him a one-year jail term for the robbery charge.

Initially, Ncube faced five counts of rape before two were withdrawn after the complainants failed to appear in court.

Last year, Ncube was convicted and sentenced to 25 years behind bars on similar charges.

This means he will now serve a combined effective 31 years in jail.

Keep Reading

In handing down sentence, Maturure said Ncube was a brutal criminal who employed violent tactics against defenceless and vulnerable women, raping them without protection and performing oral sex.

The State case was that on August 6 last year, the complainant, an 18-year-old woman (name withheld), was walking along Woodlands dumpsite when Ncube suddenly grabbed her from behind, fondled her and pushed her to the ground.

Ncube, the court heard, threatened the victim with a knife and raped her.

The court further heard that during the same month, Ncube went to a city hotel armed with a knife and force-marched a sex worker to a bushy area in the Gweru light industrial area, where he raped her and forced her to suck his manhood for several hours.

Eggrina Matutu prosecuted.