Editorial Comment: Let’s protect our children, help reduce ritual killings

boy except that he fell prey to some evil force.
This all points to the danger our children are exposed to everyday. Parents and guardians need to take extra caution to stop these killers from harming their children.
Cases of children going missing at major public gatherings are a worrying trend. This shows that parents and guardians are not prioritising the safety of their little ones, seeking instead to enjoy the entertainment being offered at these events.
Recently police said 90 children were lost during Independence Day celebrations at the National Sports Stadium in Harare. Although the children were later reunited with their parents, the figures clearly showed laxity on the part of parents, guardians or whoever was with the children when they went missing.
The Independence Day cases prompted acting Harare province police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Tarirai Dube to advise parents and guardians to ensure the children have on them contact details such as phone numbers to enable police to get in touch with them should they go missing and be found.
Parents and guardians should take heed of Assistant Inspector Dube’s advice because a great number of the children who went missing at the Independence anniversary celebrations did not have any information about where police could reach their parents or guardians.
It is also helpful for parents and guardians to desist from sending children to major events on their own or in the company of their teenage siblings or maids.
The young maids or the brothers and sisters tend to be easily distracted when they get engrossed in the attractions at these public gatherings and  lose track of the children.
Children by their nature are an inquisitive lot who tend to wander easily when at big gatherings. Parents and guardians should also be on the lookout on the intentions of strangers who chat up their children whether in the streets or at gatherings.
It is also advisable for parents to drop and pick their children from school because sometimes you meet small boys and girls, some who might even be in Grade Zero or Grade One walking home or to school on their own. It does not matter that the school might be close to where you stay. You might lose your loved one in the few metres from home to school because the kidnappers are on a mission and so they plan to accomplish it once they have a target.
We commend schools with strict pick and drop rules for pupils and urge those without such rules to introduce them to protect children. Parents and guardians must be vigilant all the time especially in the wake of reports that some of the kidnappers are working for people who kill children for ritual purposes.
Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri has expressed concern at the increase in the number of children going missing countrywide in suspected ritual murder cases. He said investigations showed some body parts were removed from the children for ritual purposes. Commissioner General Chihuri has said he suspects there are social misfits killing children for rituals.
That should be worrying to parents, guardians and all people with the responsibility to look after children. Police have said they suspect Given Flint Matapure — who went missing last year at the Exhibition Park during the Harare Agricultural Show — was murdered although investigations are still underway.
The mystery around Given’s disappearance was only solved through DNA tests after skeletal remains found at the Exhibition Park in November last year matched those of the young boy.
We have argued before that there is now need to revisit current legislation to find ways of dealing with ritual killings. We have suggested before that there is need to go for the n’angas that prescribe these killings.
If a few of them are jailed then word will quickly go round their circles that ritual killings are something that should never be done.