Online Reporter
Ronald Mpofu
FEMALE teachers and pupils at Masiyephambili Secondary School in Matabeleland North’s Bulilima District claim suspected goblins are sexually harassing them.
They told B-Metro the supernatural beings have been attacking them at the school since last year. Some of the teachers and pupils claim they left the school after the abuse.
“Sometimes I would wake up without my undies, even after wearing tights and skinny jeans that are hard to remove,” said one of the teachers, who left the school. “On other days I would feel as if something had been sucking my breasts and they would be sore.I heard other teachers and some learners saying they would wake up very tired as if they would have engaged in a sex marathon.”
Pupils said the goblins even attacked some of them in broad daylight, causing mass fainting at the school. “My friend was among those who collapsed recently. She said she felt as if invisible hand was caressing and pinching her all over before she lost consciousness,” said a pupil.
A parent said she had withdrawn her daughter from the school because of the disturbing stories.
The matter exploded into the public domain earlier this month after concerned parents demanded answers from school authorities.
Villagers called churches to conduct exorcism sessions last Monday, just a few metres from the school premises. Sources at the school alleged that a number learners had stopped coming to school, while some had requested transfers.
“This led the School Development Committee (SDC) and village heads to mobilise churches to pray at the school in a bid to cast out the evil spirits and restore confidence among fearful learners so that they resume attending lessons normally.
“We are waiting to see if the prayers worked,” said the source. A villager, who attended the exorcism prayers, said the disturbing incidents have been occurring for years within the school, but no one had the courage to report them.
“These are just spirits harassing female teachers and pupils. So the community decided to invite churches yesterday [Monday] to try and pray and assist, so, hopefully there will be a change.
“Last year it was targeting mostly female teachers, and this year it has moved to female pupils.
“The purpose of the prayer was to try and understand what is affecting the students rather than to speculate,” the villager said.
District Schools Inspector (DSI) for Bulilima, Gobile Gobile, confirmed that the prayers were conducted outside the school.
“I sent a team of two officers from Health, one from the District Development Coordinator’s office, one from the Department of Social Development, and two from Education to go and see what was taking place on the ground,” Mr Gobile said.
“The team said today it was calm and they confirmed that the community had prayers at the school yesterday and the prayers disturbed teaching and learning. “The team has reached out to village heads to let all children attend tomorrow.”
Ellen Gambo, headmistress of the school, said she was not aware of any such activities at her school. “I do not know anything about these spiritual harassments. I am not in a position to comment. I am not on duty. I do not know what is taking place at the school,” she said.
Headman Ndolwane, a traditional leader, said:
“I was not invited to the prayers and I did not authorise them. This problem started last year and prayers were held. It stopped for about six months, now it has started again,” he said.
