Admit it -- when you hear the term serial rapist, you tend to picture a man, right? But in Zimbabwe, a trio of women in their 20s are being charged for sex attacks of 17 men. When their car was involved in an accident on Friday, police found the women -- Rosemary Chakwizira, 24, Sophie Nhokwara, 26, and her sister, Netsai Nhokwara, 24 -- had a stash of 33 condoms containing semen. Ughhhh. I know! It seems the women had been targeting male hitchhikers over the past two years, either giving them a drink with a tranquilizer or raping them at gunpoint. Terrifying! And 17 men have come forward to positively identify the three women as having raped them, so it's not just like one or two guys are telling some cockamamie story. Yeeesh. At first glimpse, you might think these women are a.) out of their minds and committed these rapes as a string of senseless acts, or b.) one of them was a totally wacko ringleader forcing the other two to go along for the ride.
But, I'm not so sure. It seems like they all had an ulterior motive.
CNN spoke with a professor of sociology at the University of Zimbabwe who said:
Some sections of the society use these sperm for ritual purposes. The thinking is that it can be used for regeneration of life since they are source of life (biologically). Some people think that they can have their bad luck gone by using semen. I am sure that explains all this we have been witnessing (men being forced).
Not that this makes what the women did any less horrifying or completely wrong, but hey, at least there's an explanation. It's still mind-boggling, because how on earth could anyone think they'd be able to rid themselves of bad luck by committing these acts? But clearly, there was something going on here -- with these women's beliefs and/or mental health -- that we just can't understand. Motive aside, these women obviously need to know what they did was totally abhorrent and should face serious punishment. The same as anyone else who had committed these crimes, male or female. Hopefully they will be brought to justice, which might bring their victims at least some peace of mind.