BULAWAYO - National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Student representative council president, Brian Mtisi, was arrested and brutally assaulted by police officers last week.Mtisi was arrested after leading a group of students to court where the trial of Universitys Principal Accountant, Roy Ndlovu was going on. Ndlovu is being tried for defrauding NUST of US$19000 which had been paid by students as fees. Mtisi spent three days in police custody together with another student representative member, Joram Chikwadze, and was released on Thursday with broken arms and head injuries.
We had just gone to court with 10 students to follow proceedings in Ndlovus case since the money which he is alleged to have stolen was from students fees. On arrival at the court an overzealous Sergeant Ngwenya from Polices Law and Order section accused us of trying to incite violence at the courts before telling other police officers in riot gear to disperse our colleagues and also to arrest us, said Mtisi.
Mtisi said that after the arrest there were taken to a dark room at the Bulawayo central police station where there were assaulted continuously for three hours by Ngwenya and his team. We were then thrown into a filthy police cell without food or water for three days, he said. The two students were released after paying US$10 fine each.
Two doctors reports shown to The Zimbabwean revealed that Mtisi sustained serious head injuries during the assault while Chikwadze sustained a broken arm. When contacted for comment Bulawayo police spokesperson, Mandlenkosi Moyo, confirmed that the two students leaders were arrested for breaching peace but refused to say anything about their assault by police.
Post published in: News