In a sad development, two Bulawayo sisters had to seek medical treatment after three police details allegedly assaulted them with batons on their backs, hips and legs on allegations of violating national lockdown regulations.
The officers reportedly insulted the two siblings, saying it did not matter that they were yellow-boned (street-lingo for light-skinned).
The two siblings narrating their ordeal
The brutalised women (names withheld), were reportedly picked by two male officers while queuing at a supermarket and with hands cuffed on their backs, force-marched through a bush, where they had several stops, on their way to Cowdray Park police base.
Pictures of the two have since gone viral on social media.
State media reported that the two male officers detained the women overnight at Cowdray Park police station where they were heartlessly flogged and denied paying fines.
Attempts by the women’s relatives to pay the fines did not pay dividends.
Narrating their ordeal, the women said the officers did not only brutally assault them for hours, but insulted them saying they wanted to show them that they had better wives than them.
“They told us they would teach us a lesson. They said they wanted to show us that they had better women than us at their homes. They said our being yellow boned (light skinned) did not exempt us from the stay at home order,” one of the sisters said, in tears.
“We asked them why they were beating us and they said we were rude.”
At Cowdray Park police base, the women were allegedly forced to sit behind a parked vehicle and the officers took turns to assault them.
“The pain was excruciating yet they refused to let us seek medical attention. We were eventually fined $200 each the following day in the afternoon. That is when relatives took us to Mpilo (Central Hospital) for treatment,” said one of the victims.
Assistant Commissioner Nyathi
National police spokesperson Asst Commissioner Paul Nyathi condemned the heavy-handed approach to law enforcement by the police officers.
State Media
Additional Reporting: Zwnews
