Chronicle Editor
Diana Baloyi Moyo,[email protected]
IN a spine-chilling development four people allegedly violated 380 mass graves and corpses at Restland Memorial Park in Harare.
Police learnt about the issue after one of the suspects became haunted and started seeing visions of dead people demanding to know the whereabouts of their remains.
The suspects are alleged to have dug up graves, packed the remains of corpses in empty cement bags and or used clothes that they were buried in to wrap them up and throw them into a dam or trench behind the cemetery.
They would then resell the graves for fresh burials after paying gravediggers at the cemetery between US$15 and US$20.
National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrest of Edwin Muronzi whose age has not been disclosed, Tinashe Chiguma (32), Moses Gwanya (19) and Kudakwashe Humure (21) over the grisly issue.
He said police arrested Chiguma after he made a report that he was having visions of dead people questioning him on the whereabouts of their relatives’ remains, he implicated his accomplices and named Muronzi as the ring leader.
Three others who were only identified as Kevi, Shumba and Dread are on the run.
Investigations and procedures to identify the graves that were involved are ongoing.
In a statement on X, the police said “Investigations by the Police revealed that Edwin Muronzi employed grave diggers at the cemetery including the suspects and others who are on the run and paid them between US$15 and US$20 per every grave. The grave diggers allegedly received instructions from Edwin Muronzi to dig the graves to pave the way for new graves and subsequent burials.
“In the process, they would come across human skeletal remains which they would pack in empty cement bags before wrapping them in clothes used during burial and disposing of them in a trench or a dam behind the cemetery. They would also dispose of the traditional artefacts buried with the bodies.
“Edwin Muronzi and his team would then resale the graves to new clients to bury their late relatives without suspecting anything after cleaning and rearranging the used graves.
Comm Nyathi said a police team including the Forensic Scientists is conducting investigations with the view of identifying the graves which were tampered with, to identify the bodies through their relatives and the whole area where the illegally exhumed bodies and artefacts were being dumped.
He appealed for information which may lead to the arrest of the outstanding suspects; Kevi, Shumba and Dread.
“Anyone with information to contact the National Complaints Desk on (0242) 703631 or WhatsApp on 0712 800 197 or report at any nearest Police Station,” said the national police spokesperson.
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