Fear in village as water turns bloody

A WAVE of fear gripped Sikapila Village under Chief Sipepa in Tsholotsho amid chilling reports that one of the villagers' water was allegedly poisoned while at a community borehole and mysteriously turned into a blood red-like colour.

It is reported that the water, which was in a plastic bucket, looked normal when the victim left the community borehole and she later discovered that it had turned "bloody red" when she arrived home with a strange smell wafting from it, triggering witchcraft fears among the villagers.

So fearful were the villagers of the mysterious poisoning that they sought the services of a witch-hunter popularly known tsikamutanda to help them sniff out the suspect.

According to a source from the area who also attended the witch-hunting exercise, chaos reigned supreme as villagers were reportedly baying for the suspect's blood.

Seeing that the situation was tense and was now spiralling out of control, the tsikamutanda is reported to have withheld the suspect's name much to the anger of villagers.

It is further reported that the tsikamutanda worsened the already volatile situation when he claimed the suspect was also plotting to spill the dangerous poison in the community borehole.

"The really weird thing is that when the victim left the community borehole, the water in her bucket was so clear and clean. She was shocked when she arrived home to discover that the water had mysteriously turned into a blood red like colour.

"When she came back to the borehole and explained her ordeal to other villagers who were still queuing for water that is when they told her the suspicious colour was a result of witchcraft.

"It was suspected that somebody had mysteriously spilled poison in her bucket of water," said the source who requested not to be named while adding that during the witch-hunting exercise the tsikamutanda claimed the suspect was being pushed by a devilish spirit to also poison the community borehole.

The source said villagers resorted to enlisting the services of the tsikamutanda after police had refused to investigate the matter.

It was also alleged by the tsikamutanda that the suspect's plot to poison the community borehole was meant to harm villagers who were accusing her of witchcraft.

Although a traditional leader whose jurisdiction the borehole falls under could not be reached for comment by the time of going to print, the source said he was painstakingly working on the issue and hoping to get to the bottom of it.