Rehab centre owner on the run over rape, assault allegations

BULAWAYO — The owner of a privately-run rehabilitation centre in Bulawayo may have raped and abused up to 30 people at his facility in Emganwini, police said.
Norris Pikanegore, 46, who runs Habits Experts Rehab Centre, has so far evaded arrest.

A female patient who escaped a late-night ordeal blew the whistle, alleging she was taken from the facility to Pelandaba suburb at midnight under suspicious circumstances before managing to flee and alert her family.

Her account, first shared on veteran journalist Ezra Tshisa Sibanda’s Facebook page, triggered a flood of similar reports from more than 30 individuals.

In a formal statement, Assistant Inspector Thandekile Ndlovu, the deputy provincial police spokesperson, confirmed that investigators were handling multiple cases of indecent assault, rape, and assault involving complainants aged between 17 and 47.

“On different occasions during the month of April 2026, the accused person would indecently assault the complainants and further assault others using a button stick and threaten them not to disclose the ordeal to anyone,” Ndlovu said.

Survivors described severe abuse at the centre, saying Pikanegore controlled them through violence and indecent assault.

“He would wake us up around 2AM while sleeping, beat us, and force us to twerk and dance for him while we were naked. Afterward, he would call one or two girls to his room,” one teenage girl, checked into the centre by her parents for behavioural concerns, told Sibanda.

Male patients were not spared. One young man recounted a disturbing pattern of voyeuristic abuse.

“Piks [Pikanegore] would call all the boys, demand us to take off our pants then force us to masturbate while he watched,” he recalled.

Following the initial reports, police raided the Emganwini facility only to find it deserted. Pikanegore had allegedly relocated patients to a house in Cowdray Park in an apparent attempt to evade detection.

A joint operation between Nkulumane and Cowdray Park police eventually tracked down 21 patients crammed into the suburban home. Statements were recorded on-site and many were reunited with their families, though authorities were still trying to locate relatives for some patients who had no contact information.

The facility also faces allegations of operating as a sham rehabilitation centre, lacking qualified medical or mental health professionals, with drugs and alcohol reportedly accessible on the premises despite its stated mission to treat addiction.

Police sources suggest Pikanegore may have fled across the border into Zambia.
“We appeal to members of the public with information that may lead to the arrest of the accused person to contact ZRP Nkulumane on 0292-496756 or any nearest police station,” Ndlovu said.