adminMasvingo Bureau
TEN villagers, including a 73-year-old woman, have been arrested for the alleged severe assault of a Bikita village head and his mother in an ongoing land dispute, police confirmed yesterday.The villagers, mainly women from the Masunda family that has been evicted from what it says are its ancestral lands, allegedly assaulted Vanhukwavo village head Mr Richard Mukari and his 79-year-old mother, Ambuya Sofia Mukari, with sticks and force-marched them to Bikita Rural District Council offices.
Mr Mukari was hospitalised after sustaining serious injuries in the pitched battle that only ended after the intervention of riot police.
Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Chief Inspector Peter Zhanero said the arrested villagers would appear in court soon. Among them is Ambuya Shingairai Jongwe (73).
“We arrested the villagers for assaulting a Bikita village head and his mother and the suspects will appear in court once investigations have been completed,” he said.
The disturbances prompted the Zimbabwe Chiefs’ Council to set up a team to reconcile the feuding clans. ZCC president Chief Fortune Charumbira said they wanted an amicable solution to the dispute.
“The probe team is led by Chief Marozva of Bikita and we have tasked them to thoroughly investigate the source of problems between the two village heads and recommend possible solutions in a report that will be tabled before the chiefs’ council,” he said.
The situation is tense in Bikita where Mr Mukari won a court order to evict 26 Masunda families from neighbouring Furanayi village.
Five homes have since been demolished by the Deputy Sheriff and police following the court order.
The affected families have been resisting the evictions and have squared off against the police to stop execution of the court order.
Online Reporter