Mugabe thugs 'raping women who back opposition party'

The dictator's Zanu-PF militia are burning the homes of opponents and taking them captive to beat and rape.

At least 100 people have been killed, twice that many are missing and thousands more have been tortured.

In effect, with Aids rampant in Zimbabwe, rape is only likely to mean a slower death.

`Mugabe addresses a rally in Bulawayo yesterday, blaming the opposition of lying about violence to undermine the imminent presidential runoff vote

One supporter of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) told today how she was held and tortured by thugs in the house of a local Zanu-PF leader.

Yvonne Chipowera, 24, of Epworth, a township of capital Harare, said she was raped before being marched the house of local party chairman Teddy Garakara for what Zanu-PF dubs 're-orientation'.

There she was held with eight other MDC campaigners - including another woman - and was forced to slander MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as militiamen beat her and urinated on her.

'They raped me again and then put me back in,' said Ms Chipowera, whose two-year-old son was taken away for the duration of her capture. 'I spent the whole night until 5am being beaten, them urinating on us.'

Former Mugabe cabinet minister Amos Midzi even turned up to encourage her abusers, she told the Guardian newspaper.

Midzi, defeated in Harare's satellite township of Epworth by the MDC in March's disputed election, is said to be orchestrating the destruction of local opposition homes.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai speaks to the press this week. He is considering whether to pull out of the run-off amid fears it will be a charade

Epworth MDC councillor William Mapfumo said his wife Doreen, eight months pregnant, was beaten with iron bars in their home, which was then destroyed.

'Amos Midzi gave the order to destroy the houses. Witnesses at a meeting the weekend before the violence told me,' Mr Mapfumo told the Guardian.

While police steer clear, thugs mob the streets in their hundreds, forcing passers-by at knifepoint to join in pro-Mugabe mass meetings and pledge their votes.

Rape and violence are not confined to Harare and its townships.

Another MDC campaigner claimed today she was raped in turn by 10 uniformed men in the province of Manicaland, on the Mozambique border, where Zanu-PF was heavily defeated in the March poll.

The married woman in her 40s - who spoke anonymously for fear of reprisals, said the militiamen put a gun to her head and told her: 'We will kill you. After this we are going to throw you in the dam.'

She does not remember how long the ordeal went on, she told the Telegraph today.

'They started laughing and taking photos. They do what they want. And they beat me. They beat me with sticks, clubs, their feet and they kicked me.'

She was told to kiss a bullet and warned not to vote because she was a 'troublemaker'.

She then spent four days in police cells and three in a remand centre - accused of throwing stones at officers.

Police refused to let her file a complaint, saying 'their hands were tied'.

Manicaland MDC MP Pishai Muchauraya said more than 10,000 people have been displaced in the province by Zanu-PF, war veterans, the police and the army - making voting almost impossible for them.

'We have got some homes that were burned, we have got kids as young as five being raped by very old people who in some cases take turns to rape these girls. It's hell here,' he told the Telegraph.

Pro-government papers accuse the MDC of a campaign of violence ahead of Friday's runoff between President Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai - who won the first round in March but not by an outright majority.

Mugabe himself yesterday dismissed opponents' claims of political violence as lies to undermine the runoff vote.

'They say this so that they can later say the elections were not free and fair. Which is a damn lie,' he told a rally in Bulawayo.

Mr Tsvangirai said yesterday he was considering pulling out of the run-off because it has descended into a charade.