A 36-year-old man from Chegutu, Issa Siyabu has been sentenced to 50 years in prison after being convicted on 25 counts of unlawful entry, theft, robbery and rape following a violent crime spree across Harare’s Borrowdale and Mt Pleasant suburbs.
The court heard that Siyabu targeted multiple homes between November 2021 and January 202 breaking in and stealing valuables including laptops, mobile phones, cash and official documents.
Among the most serious offences was one in which he threatened a woman, forced her to undress and raped her before stealing property worth US$750.
In another case, he reportedly held a victim at knifepoint and demanded to know where US$700 in cash was hidden.
Siyabu was eventually arrested after forensic evidence linked him to one of the crime scenes.
He later cooperated with police detectives, leading them to several of the properties he had broken into and explaining how the crimes were carried out.
He was handed a total sentence of 100 years, with 10 years suspended for five years.
Some of the sentences will run concurrently, leaving him to serve an effective 50 years behind bars.
The trial is set to continue on four additional counts numbered 26 to 29 to which Siyabu has pleaded not guilty.
