Maria Makendenge was charged with raping a 16-year-old boy in Glen View after a disturbing 42-second video surfaced on WhatsApp groups across Harare on Wednesday night, showing the 33-year-old US-based Zimbabwean woman in a sexual act with a teenage male inside a house on 114th Crescent, Glen View 3. The footage, which has since been removed from most platforms but continues to circulate privately, triggered immediate outrage and led to her arrest less than 48 hours later. However, sources managed to get the whole 30 minutes of footage.
Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspector Luckmore Chakanza confirmed on Friday that Zvikomborero Maria Makedenge, popularly known as Maria Makendenge on social media, appeared before Mbare magistrate Sharon Rakafa facing one count of aggravated indecent assault and an alternative charge of statutory rape.
The complainant is a 16-year-old Form Four student whose identity is protected under Zimbabwe’s Children’s Act. Court papers state the incident occurred on November 28, 2025, at the boy’s father’s residence while the parent was away on a cross-border trip to South Africa.
Prosecutors allege that Makendenge, who had recently returned from Atlanta, Georgia, for the festive season, lured the teenager through Instagram direct messages before visiting the home under the pretext of delivering Christmas groceries.
Once inside, she allegedly took the minor to the master bedroom, undressed him, and performed sexual acts while recording the encounter on her iPhone 15 Pro Max. The boy reportedly told detectives he felt “scared and confused” but was threatened with exposure if he resisted.
The case came to light when the explicit clip accidentally circulated in a Glen View residents’ WhatsApp group on Wednesday evening. By Thursday morning, screenshots and voice notes had reached the victim’s school authorities, prompting the headmaster to alert the Victim Friendly Unit at Machipisa Police Station.
Officers from the Criminal Investigations Department tracked Makendenge to a relative’s house in Budiriro 5, where she was arrested while attempting to delete evidence from her phone.
During the initial remand hearing on Friday, state prosecutor Francesca Mukumbiri successfully opposed bail, arguing that Makendenge is a flight risk given her dual citizenship and valid United States passport.
She also presented screenshots of flight search history showing the accused had looked up one-way tickets to Dubai and Johannesburg just hours before arrest. Magistrate Rakafa remanded Makendenge in custody to December 18 for routine HIV testing and further investigations.
The teenager is currently receiving counselling through the Childline Zimbabwe hotline, while his father, a long-distance truck driver, cut short his journey and arrived back in Harare on Friday afternoon.
Speaking anonymously to journalists outside the court, the father expressed devastation. “I trusted her because she said she was bringing groceries for the boy since schools are closing. I never imagined this,” he said.
Women’s rights organisations, including the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association, welcomed the swift arrest but called for stronger enforcement against adult women who prey on underage boys.
Spokesperson Emilia Muchawa noted that societal attitudes often trivialise such cases when the perpetrator is female. “Rape is rape regardless of gender. A 33-year-old woman with a 16-year-old child cannot claim consent,” she stated.
Online, reactions have been polarised. Some social media users expressed horror and demanded the maximum 20-year sentence, while others engaged in victim-blaming or circulated the illegal video further. Police have warned that sharing child sexual abuse material carries a separate offence punishable by up to ten years in prison.
Makendenge, who runs a small hair-import business in Atlanta and is known on TikTok for dance and comedy skits under the handle @MariaFromUSA, has seen her accounts suspended or deleted in the past 24 hours. Friends in the diaspora have gone silent, with one former associate telling a local tabloid, “We knew she liked younger guys, but we never thought she would cross this line.”
The case has reignited national conversations about child protection during school holidays, with churches and community leaders in Glen View announcing emergency awareness campaigns next week.
Maria Makendenge, charged with raping a 16-year-old boy in Glen View, now joins a growing list of high-profile sexual offence cases involving returning diasporans, showing the urgent need for stronger safeguards for minors left at home while parents work abroad. As the teenager begins what promises to be a long healing process, the nation watches to see whether justice will match the gravity of the crime captured in that haunting 42-second clip.
