CHITUNGWIZA police are investigating a vicious street attack on a lesbian.
The Gays and Lesbian Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ) says the woman, who has not been named, had earlier been insulted at a local bar where she was in the company of a female “friend”.
The woman, described as in her 20s, was “punched in the stomach and pushed to the floor” by two men who also kicked her.
“One of the men broke a bottle of beer on her head,” a GALZ statement said on Wednesday.
She underwent treatment for her injuries at Chitungwiza General Hospital.
“Medical reports were used to open a case against the perpetrators with the police,” the statement added.
A police spokesman confirmed two men had been interviewed over the September 2 incident and investigations were continuing.
GALZ said the attack followed “continued reports of harassment and threats towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the area by known individuals”.
Homosexuality is illegal in Zimbabwe, as in most African countries.
President Robert Mugabe has described same-sex partners as "lower than dogs and pigs" but arrests of gays are rare in Zimbabwe.
In May last year, police arrested two GALZ employees, Ellen Chadehama, 34, and Ingatius Mhambi, 38, after they posted a letter in their office from Willie Lewis Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco, criticising Mugabe’s opposition to homosexuality.
They were charged under censorship laws after a search allegedly turned up pornographic material.