IN a shocking exposé, victims of the violent attacks by uniformed military and police officers have spilled more graphic details about how they were
bludgeoned with blunt objects and torched with piping hot metal rods.
So barbaric were the attacks which are still ongoing in most parts of Harare’s high-density suburbs, that many will remain with the mental scars long after their flesh wounds have healed.
Most of the victims from Kuwadzana, Harare, including children as young as 12, suffered serious injuries after the military embarked on a door-to-door crackdown meant to quell the protests over fuel price increases and general hardships that many Zimbabweans are facing.
Seventeen year-old Stephen from Kuwadzana said he was traumatised by attacks from soldiers who he always looked up to as heroes. He is nursing head and back injuries.
Narrating his ordeal, the “O” Level student said Tuesday was a nightmare for his community, which was subjected to such torture many will require extensive medical care as well as counselling.
“All hell broke loose on Tuesday morning when the soldiers descended on our neighbourhood and started beating people. Many ran indoors to seek refuge, but they followed and either teargassed them out or kicked down doors,” he said painfully.
Like everyone, Stephen and his 12-year-old sister and their parents locked themselves up, but the soldiers came and demanded that they open the doors.
“My mother pleaded with them, saying they were just mere school children, but the soldiers did not listen and dragged us away. They took me and my sister, and we were ordered to roll in raw sewage before being beaten up with logs,” he said.
