A sex offender freed in Zimbabwe’s amnesty gains social media fame. His victim’s family is dismayed

By FARAI MUTSAKA
Associated Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The mother of a 15-year-old Zimbabwean rape victim has gone to the country’s High Court to challenge the early release of the man convicted of attacking her daughter when she was a preteen. The man was released in May as part of a nationwide amnesty granted to more than 4,000 prisoners by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The trauma for the victim and her family has been made worse by the fact that the 59-year-old man has become a social media sensation with videos of his boisterous celebrations on leaving prison and his praise of the president going viral and becoming a source of amusement for many Zimbabweans.