Stillborn foetus disappears from grave

A MUTARE woman who recently had a stillbirth had the shock of her life when the foetus disappeared from the grave a few weeks after burial.

The gory incident was discovered last Sunday morning by the Garauziya family of Gombakomba Village in Mutare District.

The family was left at a loss of words after discovering that the grave in which they had buried the foetus about three weeks ago along Nyamatikiti River had been tampered with.

When The Weekender crew arrived at the scene, villagers were still battling to come to terms with the incident.

"This is the first time we have witnessed such a nasty incident in this area. We just could not believe it when we were told about it by the Garauziya family on Sunday morning. We honestly believe that someone with evil intentions is the hand behind this. That is why we helped by sleeping with them at the site on Monday evening because we feared that the perpetrators would come back the next day," said a neighbour Abigail Sande.

In a separate interview at the site, Rejoice Garauziya, the mother of the disappeared foetus could not divulge much saying she was still shocked and clueless about the intentions of the perpetrators.

"I really cannot talk much about the incident. In fact, I do not have much to say because I am still in a state of shock. I really do not know why someone would take away the foetus. It is more than obvious that it is a human being who did it judging by the way the foetus was removed," she said.

Her husband, Zebediah Garauziya, was also at a loss of words.

"All I can say is that I was saddened by the incident. In fact, it made me angry, but unfortunately there is nothing I can do about it. God knows the truth of what happened," said a visibly shaken Zebediah.

However, Rejoice's mother-in-law Viginia Zuze chronicled how they discovered that the grave had been tampered with.

"We woke on Sunday morning and we went to visit a nearby relative across the river. On our way back, we noticed some pieces of cloth strewn all over the grave in which we had buried the foetus.
"That is when we went closer to investigate, only to discover that someone had tampered with it.

"We just could not stomach the discovery and called on our neighbours to witness the nasty incident. They were also shocked to discover this. We honestly believe that this was the work of an evil-minded person. Even if you look at the way the foetus was removed from the grave, you can clearly tell that it must not have been an animal, but a human being.

"There were stones that were used in cementing the grave, but they were all nicely removed and even the cloths that were used to wrap the foetus were nicely removed suggesting that it was not the work of an animal.

"We went to report the matter to our local traditional leader - Headman Chitiyo who advised us not to further tamper with the grave and consult traditional healers in order to get to the bottom of the matter," she said.

In a separate interview, the Manicaland police spokesperson, Inspector Enock Chishiri, said they were investigating the matter.

"We received the report and there isn't much to say given that investigations are currently underway. Under the Criminal Codification and Reform Act, it is a crime to tamper with a grave. We are leaving no stone unturned to bring the culprits to book," he said.