Zimbabwean man accused of rape claims racism

Zimbabwean man accused of rape claims racism

MASAWI

• Crime Watch fugitive arrested

• 3 Zim asylum seekers held in dawn raid

• Casanova secretly married 5 women

• Zim pair jailed for mail bag thefts in UK

• Makwavarara's son infected 6 girls with HIV

• Arson accused should have been deported 2 years ago

• Grief of Zim family over Canada creek death

• Jail for Zim death crash nurse

• Nurse struck off over sex with patient

• 'Doctors did something...somebody died' - coroner

• Jail for Zimbabwean hostage man

• UK jail for HIV positive Zim rapist

• Zim man to serve 14 years for knife killing

• Zim internet fraudster cons man for £10 000

• 'Dead' Zim nurse escapes UK jail

• Zimbabwe woman wins US abuse suit

• UK jail for mum who allowed hubby to kill baby

• Pair face UK jail for child cruelty

• British MP wants fraudster deported

• Trooper who throttled vice lover jailed for life

By Staff Reporter

A ZIMBABWEAN man hunted by British cops in a blaze of media publicity, and now cleared of rape allegations, has accused the media and police of racism.

Tariro Masawi's picture was released to the media last year after police said he was on the run.

Masawi was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl in Manchester.

The girl was found unconscious on the bed of a flat in Dickenson Road, Longsight, by her friend and staff from their school in September 2005.

They also found a man -- thought to be Masawi -- hiding in the wardrobe, but he fled before police arrived.

Masawi was charged with rape by Greater Manchester Police, but has been found not guilty at Manchester Crown Court.

The jury decided that Masawi had consensual sex with the said victim.

Writing in the black newspaper, The Voice, Masawi said he had been treated differently because he was black and a foreigner.

He said: "I was arrested and held on remand for more than six months and refused bail because of my nationality as a Zimbabwean.

"I was cleared of all charges in court. Lots of websites and newspaper articles made me out to be a rapist. They carried out a rapist hunt, with my picture splashed all over.

"What hurts me is that none of those papers made any effort to write another article even though I’ve tried to contact them and ask them to. Only the BBC made a small attempt.

"Ever since I’ve been getting so much abuse and bullying over something I am innocent of. I’ve noticed that there is so much racism going on in this country. I spent six months in prison and was not accepted for bail only because I was not British-born and I was black."

Masawi accused the BBC, in particular, of dramatising his Zimbabwean nationality, and falsely claiming he was an asylum seeker.

He said: "They lied that I was an asylum seeker and that I arrived in this country in 2005 while I’ve been in this country for more than four years with my working permit and visa.

"Every day we read articles saying Africans and other Afro-Caribbean people are doing crimes but most of those cases are dropped by the courts after they prove their innocence. But nobody will hear anything further in the media.

"The law in this country segregates us every day and the media helps by putting a bad image on us and our community."

Masawi now lives in Nottingham.
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com