Rapist 'ghost' targets pregnant women

"When the ghost abused you, all the other women sleeping in that room also noticed. They did not have strength to shout for help or rescue you. The 'man' was so powerful that you could not push him once he grabbed you"

Ever heard of a dead man with an insatiable sexual appetite that has resulted in him "waking" from the dead to be intimate with the living?

Ever heard of a sneaky ghost that prefers pregnant women?

These scenarios can easily fit into horror movie scripts, yet pregnant women who have stayed at Makande Clinic Mothers Waiting Shelter in Kariba District, Mashonaland West Province, claim to have come across such.

Locals believe a male ghost has bedded many expecting mothers at the shelter with his motive unknown.

While this could easily be a serial rapist on the prowl, the women believe in the paranormal and say what they have seen is a real ghost.

The area's traditional leaders are now looking for a way to exorcise the menacing ghost and solve the mystery.

Victims say between March and April this year the ghost became intimate with 25 pregnant women as they slept.

Despite a joint crusade by 10 churches to drive away the spirit, the leadership in the area says the apparition has continued to wreak havoc.

Pregnant women sheltered at the institution are scared, so are their families back home.

Maria (not real name) a victim from nearby Mapfundematsva Village said the ghost visits the mothers' shelter at around midnight.

She and many other women do not want their identities revealed.

They fear the stigma that may come afterwards; word moves quickly in rural areas.

Maria alleges that during her stay at the waiting shelter, she saw the ghost sitting on a stool, possibly prying on its victims.

Moments later, it pounced on another pregnant woman.

One day, she also claimed, the apparition "raped" all the women sleeping in the shelter and left during the wee hours of the morning.

"It all seemed real. You could feel it. The challenge was one's mouth was muzzled by an unimaginable force.

"When the ghost abused you, all the other women sleeping in that room also noticed. They did not have strength to shout for help or rescue you. The 'man' was so powerful that you could not push him once he grabbed you," she said.

Maria had gone to the mother's waiting shelter to deliver her third child last month.

"The ghost raped us on two occasions. It just suddenly appeared inside the room then sat on a stool. Everyone was nervous, and hid under their blankets. The ghost appeared as a silhouette of a real man in a shirt and pair of trousers.

"It hid its face and did not talk to anyone. Although it sat on a stool, what still surprised everyone is that before we slept, there was no chair or stool in that room. What also amazed us is that the door was locked from inside when it entered," she narrated.

The following morning it emerged that the apparition had "raped" all the seven women in the room that night.

"The next morning every woman who had slept in that shelter complained of pain after disclosing that they had been intimate with the man sighted the previous night," said the mother of three.

Another victim Pretty (not real name) from Kajekache under Chief Nematombo, Hurungwe, also visited the clinic early last month waiting for her delivery date.

"When you wake up the next morning after being abused, there is every sign of having been intimate with a man," she said.

She believes in the paranormal and says what happened to her is real.

"During the act it would be so real only that one's body would be numb and unable to resist.

"Something should be urgently done. The ghost is subjecting mothers to psychological torture. You should know that a pregnant woman is fragile and needs care. With such events happening we fear that our babies will be affected. What will my husband say when he hears that I have been intimate with a ghost?" she lamented.

Ward 11 councillor for Nyaminyami Rural District Mr Elisha Sithole whose area of jurisdiction also covers Makande Clinic said they are confused.

"The issue may sound small and unreal, yet it has brewed chaos and confusion at this institution.

"Both the traditional and political leadership will soon convene a meeting to find a lasting solution to the crisis," he said.

Councillor Sithole said when the disturbance escalated mid-March, leadership in the area invited 10 churches to conduct prayers and hopefully drive away the ghost.

However, all efforts were in vain as the ghost did not leave.

"We are trying to get rid of this spirit that continues to haunt our clinic. Of course we invited 10 different churches just before Easter for all-night prayers but the 'man' is still undeterred and continuing.

"The 10 churches include AFM and Johanne Masowe. There was serious singing and prayers, but no change has come so far," he said.

Zimbabwe National Practitioners Association (ZINIPA) president Sekuru Friday Chisanyu thinks otherwise.

He says there was no ghost at Makande but points a finger at juju.

He believes someone who wants to get rich quickly is using juju and believes by sleeping with pregnant women his fortunes will change overnight.

"It's juju not a ghost. Such juju demands one to sleep with a pregnant woman so that their desires can come to fruition immediately after the woman delivers.

"The same type of juju is used by people who want to rejuvenate their businesses. They believe that the business improves the moment the woman delivers.

"They believe that their business will start to grow as the child also starts growing. It is possible to catch him," he said.

Sekuru Chisanyu added that ghosts would never molest people in such a manner as they usually took the form of avenging spirits.

"In our tradition a ghost is a spirit of a person that resurrects in order to trouble those who would have taken a hand in killing them. We cannot say this ghost is a spirit of someone who was wronged by all these women coming to the clinic," he said.

Sekuru Chisanyu allayed fears that women being intimate with the apparition had the possibility of contracting diseases like HIV and AIDS.

"One cannot contract any disease from this type of rape. The unborn child is also never affected in any way as it is just juju at work," explained Sekuru Chisanyu.

Although Makande Clinic is situated in Kariba District under Chief Sampakaruma's area, it also serves communities from Hurungwe since it is found right on the border of the two districts.

The clinic also serves people from a Fishing Camp on the shores of Lake Kariba among other communities.

Chief Senator Dandawa who shares borders with Chief Sampakaruma concurred with Sekuru Chisanyu saying that the Makande debacle was a result of a greedy person using juju to create mega-fortunes.

"But such juju is bad as it affects our way of living. We should consult traditional healers so that they exorcise the place," he said.