A HARARE magistrate ordered Tuesday the return of the vehicle said to have been used by three woman accused of raping male hitch-hikers and harvesting semen for suspected ritual purposes.

Rosemary Chakwizira and sisters, Sophie and Netsai Nhokwara along with a male accomplice, Thulani Ngwenya, all from the Midlands town of Gweru face SEVENTEEN counts of aggravated indecent assault.

The women were arrested in October as they tried to retrieve 31 used condoms -- four of them half full with semen – after Ngwenya, who is said to be Sophie’s boyfriend was involved in an accident outside Gweru.

But on Tuesday Harare provincial magistrate, Kudakwashe Jarabini ordered the release of the vehicle, a Toyota Chaser, to enable the safe travel of the suspects.

The women sought the release of the car arguing their lives were in danger after they were attacked by a mob at a bus-stop in Gweru last month.

“Accused raised security concerns, mentioned that they were attacked at a bus stop and had to seek refuge at a police station," said Jarabini.

"The court concurs with the counsel that accused are exposed to the public and are known. Accused's safety is at risk. They are presumed innocent until proven guilty; they are supposed to be protected from the unruly elements who may want to take the law into their hands.”

The women deny the sex-attack allegations and told investigators that they were just hard-working hookers.

During a routine remand hearing late last month their lawyers asked the court to set a trial date insisting their clients had no case to answer.

"We are sure that the State is comfortable having the accused persons continuously remanded until a time when the court would decide to remove them from remand for failure by the State to prosecute them," Dumisani Mthombeni said.

"The accused persons are demanding for their trial date so that they can answer to the charges and protest their innocence in the courts of law.