Nyakauru, a kraal head in Nyanga North, died on Saturday. He was a victim of organised abduction and assault by some war veterans and Zanu (PF) supporters.
He had been abducted from his home by so-called war veterans and Zanu (PF) supporters on 14 February, detained and assaulted at Taziwa Shopping Centre in Nyanga before handing him over to Nyamaropa Police Station. Policecharged him with contravening section 36 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
The kraal head was assaulted all over his body by a group of people led by war veteran Wilfred Pokoto with sticks and a cattle prod. His assailants, who accused him of leading MDC-T supporters to destroy some shops belonging to Zanu (PF) supporters in the area, ordered him to lie on his stomach before brutally assaulting him. They also took away his spectacles.
Nyakaurus condition was aggravated when he was detained for three weeks at Mutare Remand Prison together with 23 other individuals including Nyanga North MP and Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) co-chairperson Douglas Mwonzora after prosecutor Tirivanhu Mutyasiri vetoed a bail order which had been granted to Nyakauru and 23 other detainees by Nyanga Magistrate, Ignatio Mhene.
His story tells how brutal and senseless this regime is. You have an 82-year-old being accused of public violence and the Attorney Generals office believing this. Its a tragedy, said Mwonzora.
Those implicated in, and responsible for, his abduction, assault and detention, as well as the police who denied him medical attention when he was incarcerated in police cells, and the prison authorities who failed to afford him medical treatment while at Mutare Remand prison are complicit in and contributed to his sad death, said a statement from ZLHR.
Post published in: News