Two police officers in Beit Bridge, who severely assaulted three suspected commercial sex workers, resulting in one of them having a miscarriage, were each sentenced to an effective one year in jail.

Colleen Chinounye (21) and Kudakwashe Manatsa, both employed as police officers in the border town, pleaded not guilty to charges of assault, but were convicted by Beit Bridge magistrate Mr Tavengwa Sangster. They were each sentenced to two years, of which one year was conditionally suspended for three years.

The prosecutor, Mr Reliance Ndou, said on 16 December last year at around 23:00, the two police officers who were on night patrol together with four others, descended on a house in Dulibadzimu suburb where they raided a group of women they suspected of being prostitutes.

They arrested the victim and two other women. They ordered them to lie down before they assaulted the women, using batons. The women sustained serious injuries. Chinounye and Manatsa then took the three women to the police station, where they further assaulted them. One of the victims, who was two months pregnant, had a miscarriage during the event.

Soon after their release the following morning, the complainants reported the matter to the police, leading to the arrest of the two police officers. The victim was taken to Beit Bridge District Hospital, where a medical report proved that she had suffered a miscarriage as a result of the assault.