Zimbabwe: ritual murder or a sexual offense?

A murder is a murder, and a crime, horrific, whatever the circumstances are. Killing people intentionally for whatever reason is a crime for which the perpetrator should be prosecuted and, if found guilty by an impartial and independent judge during a transparant, public trial, sentenced to a reasonable punishment.

This site’s objective is to raise awareness about ritualistic murders and to help eradicate this medieval practice. It is not always easy to recognize a ritual murder. Certain cases are crystal clear, but sometimes perpetrators disguise their malicious acts as a ritual murder in order to mislead investigators. That’s why we have to be careful in our investigations, declaring certain crimes as a ritualistic murder whereas in reality it is not the case.

One such case might be the following. However, the article below also mentions a – most likely – real case of ritual murder which, for that reason only, warrants its inclusion here.
(FVDK).

Female juvenile found dead

Published: March 12, 2022
By: Varaidzo Mudewairi/Methembe Sibanda – News Day Zimbabwe  

POLICE in Harare yesterday said they were investigating the murder of a female juvenile whose body was recovered from a maize field in Borrowdale on Wednesday.

“Police in Harare are investigating a murder case where a female juvenile (17) was found dead in a maize field at Kaseplan Farm, Pomona, Borrowdale on March 9, 2022,” a police statement read.

“The body was bleeding from the mouth and nose facing upwards with the skirt dropped to the toes.”

Police said a pair of shoes, handbag and a packet of salt was placed close to the body.

Three months ago, a five-year-old juvenile was found dead with some body parts missing in Nyanga in what the family suspects was a ritual murder.

Meanwhile, the Women in Law Southern Africa (Wilsa) yesterday urged the government to allocate more resources to the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to enable them to effectively deal with sexual offences in the country.

Wilsa official Fadzai Traquino said government should allocate more resources in order for the justice system to be fully decentralised.

“They are also issues to do with impunity, for instance, access to justice. Our justice delivery system is not yet fully decentralised to deal with sexual offences. Prosecution only happens at regional courts and not all towns in our country,” Traquino said.

Source: Female juvenile found dead