Police, Zinatha agonise over ritual murders

Lloyd Ndemo

A dark cloud of ritual killings, mostly involving children, continues to hang over Zimbabwe.To that end, police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi says parents and guardians should keep a close eye on children more than ever.

“It’s really sad that instead of valuing the lives of minors, people are resorting to killing and maiming them,” he said.

Amid such worrying revelations, a few questions beg answers.Why children?Where do the body parts go and is this trend being fuelled by traditional healers?

ZTN sought answers and spoke to the president of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association George Kandiero who was equally disturbed.“It is quite disturbing especially from our side because most people would want to think that traditional healers use these body parts for ritual purposes.

 “l would want to draw a very thick line between healing and witchcraft. This behaviour falls under witchcraft.“There are misconceptions and misinformation that if you use certain body parts, you get power or your business thrives.

But such acts have serious repercussions on the perpetrators.”Lately, reports of heinous killings of children have been on the rise.Last week, the bodies of two school children from Nyanga, a district in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland province, were stashed in a blair toilet at an abandoned home.

Barely a month ago, another victim, Tapiwa Makore from Murewa, was buried, several months after he was killed in another suspected ritual murder.