HARARE - Three victims of brutality who sustained wounds after the police set dogs on them early last month to induce chicken theft confessions are again on the receiving end. They have now been charged with obstructing the police in a case which rights lawyers say smacks of retribution.Before the latest charges levelled against them, the victims had already fi led a complaint against the police after suffering neck, arm, thigh, ankle and leg injuries resulting from the dog bites.
The three Mount Hampden residents, Vusa Dzimwasha, Themba Dzimwasha and Ruth Nyarumwe were recently charged with contravening Section 176 of the Criminal Law (Codifi cation and Reform) Act for allegedly
resisting or assaulting a police offi cer.
The State accuses the three of unlawfully and violently resisting orders from Sergeant Spiwe Nyamasotera
who set vicious dogs upon them to force them to admit to stealing chickens from a local farmer.The State alleges that the three obstructed an investigation into the theft of 43 chickens belonging to Leonard Mapfure of Plot 27 Willoclip Farm. It is alleged that the residents used stones and mobilised people to
kill a police dog which had been set upon them by Nyamasotera.
Vusa Dzimwasha, Themba Dzimwasha and Ruth Nyarumwe, who are out of custody while awaiting trial,
recently appeared before a Harare Magistrate and denied the charges. They contend that they only
requested Nyamasotera and her team of police offi cers to furnish them with search warrants before they could conduct a search on their houses.
The police action smacks of retribution because the Mount Hampden residentsimmediately fi led a complaint against the police offi – cers who set dogs on them and assaulted them just after their ordeal.The trios trial will commence this Monday at the Rotten Row Magistrates Court before Magistrate Paidamoyo Mukumbiri.Vusa, Themba and Nyarumwe were left nursing injuries after the police used vicious dogs to induce chicken stealing confessions.
Nyarumwe, who was accused by a male police offi -cer of having refused to open her door to facilitate police investigations, sustained injuries on her ears as a result of the police assault.
Doctors who examined the victims after the dog bites treated them for lacerations,bruises on the lateral side of the right ankle probably caused by a dog bite. The doctors prescribed anti-tetanus
and anti-rabies vaccines and antibiotics to treat residents injuries.
Post published in: Politics