HARARE – Police have launched a manhunt for Jacqueline Takure nee Chikukwa, 45, who is a suspect in a case of human trafficking.
According to police, sometime in 2022, Takure posed as an employment agent and misrepresented to five victims that she could facilitate their employment in well-paying hotels and catering jobs in Dubai.
She allegedly facilitated the travel of the victims to Oman, where upon arrival, they had their passports confiscated by the suspect’s accomplices.
“The victims were sold off as slaves to different people who subjected them to domestic servitude, labour and sexual exploitation,” police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Nyathi in a statement on Friday.
“One of the victims managed to escape and alerted her relatives who reported the matter to the police.
“The victims were repatriated to Zimbabwe by the Government of Zimbabwe.”
Nyathi appealed for anyone with information that could lead to the suspect’s arrest to contact police through its National Complaints Desk number (0242) 703631 or WhatsApp on 0712 800 197 or report at any nearest police station.
Zimbabwe came to the spotlight as a source country for human traffickers when cases of women who were lured to the Middle East on promises of lucrative employment opportunities only to be sold into slavery were unearthed.
Several Zimbabwean women were allegedly lured to Kuwait on the pretext of employment as house maids and nurses in the rich Gulf country, only to find themselves sold as sex slaves by traffickers.
The plight of the women came to light in 2016, prompting the government to order a comprehensive investigation, as well as to rescue the women.
Last year, it also emerged that scores of women were trafficked to Oman to work as domestic workers under deplorable conditions.
The women are reportedly earning between US$60 to US$80 per month.
