In 2003, police arrested Mtetwa. They said it was for drunk driving. At the police station, they hit her and choked her, or tried to stop her breathing by squeezing her throat. Three hours later, the police let her go, without a formal charge or accusation. For two days after the attack, she could not speak. On the third day, she returned with a folder of medical evidence, and she filed charges against the police officers. Police officers reportedly attacked Mtetwa again in 2007. Police beat Mtetwa and three colleagues, people who work with her, with rubber nightsticks during a protest march. The march was to protest the harassment of Zimbabwe's lawyers.