EPWORTH - The violence of Zimbabwes politics have now touched even this tiny, rural hamlet, leaving behind a badly injured and shattered woman her life changed in one night. (Pictured: Attacked by Zanu youths, Abigail Bamhare was rushed to hospital after being beaten and hit with
A group of supporters of President Robert Mugabes Zanu (PF) suddenly arrived at the dusty cluster of mud and log huts, dragged out Abigail Bamhare and almost beat her to death.
I was preparing to go to the shops to buy vegetables when six Zanu youths led by a Zanu official said nhasi tazokuwana (we have finally met), a tearful Bamhare related. They lifted a big stone and crushed my back and shoulder.
She said her mouth was slashed with a sharp object. The sight of so much blood sent the youths fleeing from the scene of the attack.
The group of men then went to a nearby hut and attacked another victim suspected of supporting the MDC.
Neighbours rushed Bamhare to hospital where she had to have 11 stitches and treatment for other serious injuries. She reported the case to police.
No-one came to help the woman as she was beaten; most men were away and the women and children in the hamlet were cowering in their huts, listening to the cries and thuds.
Bamhares crime was signing up to support Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirais MDC party in general elections way back in 2008.
Dozens here in Epworth have been savagely beaten, many raped and others forced to flee their homes in a tide of low-key violence that continues right now under the watch of Harare provincial chairman Amos Midzi.
And now with public hearings on a new constitution set to resume early next month, the situation has become dangerous.
Bamhare spoke to The Zimbabwean as her relatives, huddled together in front of her hut, burst into weeping and keening.
Inside the dusty compound are a cluster of low, thatched mud and log huts with wood cooking fires permanently smouldering outside and blackened pots and pans lying to dry in the warm winter sunshine.
A few dogs lounge around watching disinterestedly as scrawny chickens and young children meander around among the structures. Raised platforms contain quantities of maize well out of the reach of domestic animals and rodents.
The women are all at work in the fields, tending to the crops of maize, pumpkin and sunflower, and the boys are with the livestock.
Apart from Wilson Mushaya, who lives in an adjacent compound, not one man is to be seen. Most find what work they can in the towns, coming home occasionally to bring food and money.
Bamhare said she had been forced to stop tending to her garden, her only source of livelihood after the vicious attack.
Post published in: News