adminMasvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Peter Zhanero confirmed that people mobbed the police station but denied having received a report of the purported incident.
Insp Zhanero was, however, quick to point out that issues of adultery had nothing to do with the police.
“While police are there to provide security to anyone seeking it, we can’t be directly involved in issues to do with infidelity. Our duty is only to maintain law and order through arresting criminals and providing security to those who need it and issues of infidelity have nothing to do with us,” said Insp Zhanero.
He said the incident that people were talking about was based on mere speculation and the police did not receive such a report.
“We are also getting it from the grapevine that there was a man and a woman in Rujeko who were stuck together because of runyoka/ulunyoka after their sexual act, but at the moment we don’t have the details of what exactly transpired.
“While I cannot dismiss everything, there could be something that could have happened and people rushed to spread the rumour that caused people to approach our station in Rujeko,” said Insp Zhanero.
When a Chronicle news crew visited the police station on that night, the swelling crowd was running battles with the police who were trying to disperse the people.
The police were also trying in vain to dispel the rumour that had already filtered throughout the town.
The arrival of police’s dog section could not deter the excited mob either as people continued to force their way into the station premises seeking to have a physical check in all the rooms for the adulterous couple.
The residents only dispersed at around 1am yesterday when the police resorted to using teargas.
A police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said the purported incident was a hoax as investigations revealed that there was never an incident of that nature in Rujeko.
“We are surprised why all these people are gathered here. We have made our investigations as police and proved beyond any reasonable doubt that these are only rumours with no substance at all. There are no such people here and besides, police do not preside over such incidents because we are not sangomas or prophets,” said the policeman.
However, sources said the rumour that has gripped the city was allegedly ignited by some residents in Rujeko C who followed a certain car which they thought had taken the couple away from public embarrassment.
“There is a private car, a red Renault that was seen at around 5pm yesterday (Wednesday) picking a man and woman from Rujeko C. The pair was inseparable,” said a resident.
“We know the two, I might not have witnessed the drama myself but the people involved are well known residents here. Police should not hide it because the woman is our neighbour and many people know her because of her church, she is a congregate of a local church here in Rujeko C,” said the resident.
Asked where the couple had been taken to, the residents said: “This thing cannot be solved by the police neither can they go to the hospital. The couple could have sought the assistance of a traditional healer if they are not at the police station where they could have sought refugee.”
Ulunyoka or runyoka is illness that results from having sex with a married woman whose husband could have “fenced” her so that the other men who would have sex with her cannot separate from her or develop strange illnesses. The juju is administered on women without their knowledge.
The practice is meant to deter adulterous affairs.
Online Reporter