MUTARE– Residents of Chigodora communal lands, east of Mutare, are living in fear after unconfirmed reports linked a foreign female fugitive with spates of recent deaths that have happened in the areas.
By Donald Nyarota
A snap survey by 263chat established that villagers are now living in fear of ritual killings linked to a suspected Mozambique female fugitive identified only as Sharon, who has been fingered in recent mysterious deaths in the area.
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), confirmed the development but said this was just a wild speculation by the villagers before adding that they have made contact with their Mozambique counterparts through Interpol to establish facts.
Acting Manicaland provincial spokesperson Assistant Inspector Luckson Chananda said although there have been four deaths in the area, none of them had a link to Sharon.
Chananda said police have made conclusive investigations into the four separate incidents.
“We have bilateral relations with Mozambique and we are consulting them to establish whether the suspect is a fugitive from the law, whether she has a case to answer, for now, we do not have an official confirmation.
“This remains public speculation, although as the police we have a mandate to investigate, we have not found any link to suggest that the suspect was involved in any cases, we have no cases tied to her.
“We have recorded four separate cases of sudden death in the area but that does not have any link to the suspect in question,” said Chananda.
He added, “In that area, four deaths were recorded, some of them were sudden deaths, as police we have investigated those cases and we were able to conclude that there was no foul play.”
However, villagers are adamant that Sharon’s hand can be linked to the mysterious death of an adult male, whose body was found mutilated, with some parts including his genitals reportedly missing.
Tendai Mugobo, a villager in the area said there was wide spread fear in the community as villagers grapple with the recent spates of mysterious deaths.
Mugobo said residents blame the police for not taking action as they are now virtually living under curfew, afraid to venture out at night.
“Everyone is talking about Sharon no one doesn’t know that she is kidnapping and killing people for ritual purposes, she is wreaking havoc to our community because of these murders people are living in fear.
“We are worried about our children and the police seem like they have folded hands when Sharon is killing people, the other time a man was found dead with his body parts missing.
“We are now afraid of even going out, people are now moving in groups in fear of being pounced upon but it seems police are relaxed about this issue,” said Mugobo.
