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Leeroy Dile
A SUSPECTED thief was caught wandering at the crime scene, hours after he had stolen a cellphone in Mhondoro Ngezi, amid bizarre claims by some villagers that the premises were guarded by a mysterious “powerful force.”
The suspected thief, Simbarashe Chigume, is from the Vera area of Mhondoro.
He is accused of stealing a smartphone from a shopping complex in the Turf area of Mhondoro.
However, after stealing the phone he, somehow, could not leave the complex.
He was caught, hours later, milling around the premises.
He had to undergo “some cleansing exercise,” after he was caught.
Chigume is not the first person to be arrested in similar fashion after having tried to steal from the same complex.
“He is not the first accused person here. There is another guy called Munyaradzi Samukange, who ended up doing exactly the same thing after stealing a pie from one of the shops.
“He was given the option to pay US$350 or he ‘would go insane’.
“Another security guard from Zvimba, who stole two doves, lost his senses and only regained them after his family had paid a cow.”
Chigume’s “cleansing ceremony” was done in public and he was ordered to kill a chicken whose meat was shared among people who were drinking alcohol.
The owner of the complex told H-Metro:
“Chete iye anga asingazive nezvangu, pangu hapabiwe, ukaba hauna kwaunoenda unotenderera kusvika wabatwa kana ukaenda unopenga.
“Saka mupfanha uyu akaba phone pashop yeumwe mukomana mushure mekunge auya kuzogadzirisa kambudzi kake, ndakabva ndafonerwa ndikamuti usatye haana kwaachaenda.”
“Njiva dzangu dzinodarika zana, dzimwe dziri kwaMamina dzimwe pano pacomplex dzimwe dzinogara mustadium umo, dzimwe dziriko kumba kwangu.”
A witness said:
“After a thief is caught, he is taken for cleansing.
“After paying either money, a beast or goats one should use a chicken, depending on the gravity of the matter.
“So, the culprit holds the chicken by its head and cuts the neck using a knife as it gives its last kicks, the complex owner then uses a stick to beat the thief.
“The chicken is later prepared by the culprit and put on the braai and consumed by the old man’s friends.”
Online Reporter