admin
Victor Maphosa-Mashonaland East Bureau
On October 5, 2019, there was joy in a female ward at Mutoko Hospital.
A new baby girl had been born.
As expected, the nurses had done their best, and the mother had done her best. But above everything, God had given this young couple a priceless gift.
Normally, on a day like this, and on an occasion like this, ululations, tears of joy and wide smiles are uncontrollable.
Usually, the couple will immediately give their newborn baby a name.
For this Mutoko couple, the baby was immediately named Tamara ( not her real name).
As soon as the baby was placed in her hands, the weak mother trembled with joy.
Her eyes sparkled with love, evidently written all over her face as she embraced, tenderly and affectionately, her pride of joy.
She would even see a bright future for her child.
Maybe, just like many mothers, on this particular day, Tamara’s mother even made a wish silently.
It is expected that since she had just given birth, the doctor made a routine visit to this special ward and in no time, the mother and the child were discharged from the hospital, and they safely went home.
As the doors opened, and as they walked out of the ward, the child tasted her first outside environment.
Yes, as soon as the two walked out, they were met with the father of the child, who is Amai Tamara’s husband, baba Tamara.
He was smiling.
He was full of joy, he was the father of a bouncing healthy baby girl.
He probably made a silent prayer as he took both the mother and daughter in his warm embrace. They quickly headed home.
On arrival they were met with the rest of the family members, they gave the baby some gifts. They wished her well.
Time flies, they say. They celebrated her first birthday. Tamara would play outside, as a girl, with various toys as is expected of kids her age.
Soon, the parents enrolled her for Early Childhood Development (ECD) at a local Government school.
Somewhere in the district of Mutoko, it is said a lone figure, walked down the dusty road.
Under his armpit, he clutched a plastic bag which contained a few personal belongings as he went from one home to another looking for a job.
He is said to have no fixed abode, as the rumour mill said he had been released from prison. One villager had sympathy and reportedly hired him.
He quickly and effortlessly became like a member of that family as he worked hard to earn a living.
They confirmed he was a hard worker.
One morning, the community woke up to a devastating revelation.
It left them shell-shocked.
The day had just started just like any other.
Tamara woke up and her mother prepared her usual routine for her to go to school. But after school, she never got home, only to be rescued the next day lying unconscious in a bushy area.
She was allegedly sexually abused.
And from that day, she became mum, and more than a year after the devastating encounter, she is still unable to talk.
The Herald visited Tamara’s home after getting wind of the issue.
Tamara’s father could not hide anger and he had disappointment written all over his face.
“I only want my child to be able to talk again. Just as she used to. I want to hear her voice calling out to me or playing cheerfully with others.
“I want my girl to be well again. This is my wish. It is painful. My child was born with her voice.
“She could even sing and we could talk all day. But all that is gone. I cannot bear to see her like that.
“Medically, I cannot say more because at this moment I still need to know thefiner details in as far as the challenge is concerned.
“But what is real is that we need some assistance for further examinations on her. That way it will be easy for us to know exactly what is the problem,” he said.
He went on to say the suspect is still in police custody, adding that he has trust in the judiciary system.
“As a family, we want justice for our child. What happened to her is inhumane.
“She survived by the grace of God so that justice can be served. We have trust in the authorities to serve justice in this matter.
“We pray every day so that our child can be assisted and her condition be turned around. We are trying every day to remain strong for her sake.”
But what happened on that day?
She had just finished classes at school and was headed towards a neighbour’s homestead where she was expecting to meet her mother.
The little girl’s mother had told her to go to the neighbour’s home where she was doing tobacco grading as piecework.
They would meet there and head home together.
The little girl walked down the dusty road of Hurumutumbu, some 40km from Mutoko Centre, naturally keen to meet her mother.
On arrival at her neighbour’s home, she was told her mother had not shown up for work and so she had to go home on her own.
She passed through the local shopping centre and suspected nothing, as she walked home, slowly, playfully and with the anxiety to see her parents.
Her mother was patiently waiting for her four-year-old daughter to come back home.
As she continued walking, a dark-complexioned-man (who police arrested in connection with this case), followed her, caught up with her and offered to carry her school bag.
Some villagers say the man was walking a leashed dog.
The innocent girl, is said to have handed over the bag to the man, and they started walking towards the direction of her home.
Reports say when the man suggested they use another road which passes through the bushes, the girl objected but due to her fear of the dog, she reluctantly followed.
She was sexually violated and left for dead.
Police reacted quickly and arrested two suspects.
National police spokesperson Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the arrests.
Commissioner Nyathi said one of the suspects allegedly confessed that he intended to kill the victim for ritual purposes after being promised US$1,500 by a local businessman.
He said investigations by the police established that the victim was sexually assaulted.
The duo has since appeared in court and one of the suspects has been granted bail.
Hurumutumbu villagers are still in shock at the kidnapping and attack.
Following the incident, schoolchildren started walking in groups of up to 10 to and from school.
The horrible experience of one of their own left them in complete shock.
“Even us, the older ones are now afraid to walk alone even during the day. We never expected to see this kind of cruelty in our village.
“One is left to wonder what will become of our children, if we live with people without a heart among us,” Tamara’s grandmother said.
On that day after the child did not return home, the family was alarmed and launched a search.
The next day some women informed them that the child had last been seen with one of the suspects and more people corroborated, saying they had seen the suspected assailant carrying a satchel and crossing a river into Manicaland.
The suspect in question was employed by the local village head as a cattle herder and had been on the job for only two months.
“So as the search continued, the Village Head’s son, who was part of the search team, took a motorbike and headed to the Manicaland side, where the suspect was walking alone and carrying the same school bag belonging to the girl,” said the grandmother.
It is then alleged that the suspect was confronted and later confessed to kidnapping the little girl adding that he had handed her over to the businessman who had promised him US$1,500 on condition that he kill the child and harvest some body parts for him
Tamara’s father was in Harare when the incident happened and endured emotional stress since he could not immediately travel back home.
During questioning by members of the search team, it is reported that the first suspect revealed that when the second suspect, who is a businessman, instructed him to kill the child, he refused and told him to carry out the deed himself.
However, when confronted by angry villagers, the businessman denied ever meeting the first suspect but the villagers effected a citizen’s arrest and waited for police to arrive.
The two were taken to Jani Police Station, about 15km from Hurumutumbu Business Centre.
Police officers immediately started questioning the two and it is reported that it was during the questioning period when the first suspect volunteered to show the police where he had left the child.
Reports are that he led the residents to a tobacco barn near the business centre.
The child was reportedly found about 50 metres away from the barn, semi-conscious and with a shoelace around her neck.
“I want to thank those police officers wholeheartedly.
“They did not waste time or wait to take statements, but announced that they were now rushing to the clinic with the child,” said the grandmother.
From the clinic, the child was rushed to Mutoko Hospital from where she was transferred to Harare.
“Imagine she spent the whole night, alone, in a bush, in the cold with a shoelace around her neck. Her survival is the work of God, the Almighty.”
The Village Head who had employed the man said she never expected him to behave in such a manner given the condition he was in when she gave him a job.
She said he told her that he had just been released from jail.
“I met him here in Hurumutumbu and he was looking for a job. I never suspected anything.
“He told me that he had just come from jail and had been released under amnesty, after assaulting another man whom he had caught bedding his wife,” the Village Head said.
“Out of sympathy, I gave him a job. I even bought him new clothes so that he could be presentable. Little did I know that he had not reformed. I pray that the child gets healed.”
daniel chigunwe
Online Reporter