Landlord locks Tenant in her Room for Rejecting him

A landlord from Bulawayo, who is 53 years old, was found guilty of kidnapping his female renter and keeping her in her room after she rejected his overtures. He was sentenced to community service for his actions.

Esau Sibanda approached Mrs. Estel Mwembe, his tenant, at her apartment on the evening of February 5, 2025.

Mrs. Mwembe was 36 years old at the time of the occurrence. Having been harboring inappropriate intentions, Sibanda requested sex favors from Mrs. Mwembe, and when she steadfastly refused, the situation deteriorated.

Sibanda had been harboring wrong ambitions. It was Sibanda’s insistence that Mrs. Mwembe pay the rent that was overdue for the previous month that caused her to become so angry at her denial.

In an effort to protect herself, she went back to her room. However, Sibanda locked the door from the outside, which prevented her from leaving the room alone.

Over the course of twelve hours, she was unable to leave her house and was unable to seek assistance.

Concerned neighbors did not become aware of her absence until the following morning, at approximately eleven o’clock, and they immediately raised the alarm.

Their prompt involvement resulted in her being rescued, and Sibanda was subsequently taken into custody.

At the time that the court proceedings were taking place, Sibanda pleaded guilty to the accusations of kidnapping and illegal possession of drugs.

During the course of the hearing, the Western Commonage magistrate, Ms. Skhetile Moyo, handed down a sentence of sixteen months in prison to the defendant.

On the other hand, he was granted a suspension of four months of his sentence for a term of five years, provided that he did not commit any other offenses of a similar nature during that time period.

The prosecutor contended that Sibanda had used his status as a landlord to harass and pressure Mrs. Mwembe, and that this situation was unacceptable.

“Such behavior not only violated the tenant’s rights but also undermined the trust that should exist between landlords and tenants.”

Additionally, the remaining twelve months of his sentence were allowed to be deferred on the condition that he did 560 hours of community service at the Njube Police Station.

According to the decision of the court, this punishment would serve not only as a means of rehabilitation for the offender but also as a method of enabling him to make a good contribution to society.