Police yesterday arrested 16 female college and university students who were demonstrating in Harare against exorbitant fees and sexual harassment at tertiary institutions.
National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed the arrests, saying the march was illegal as it was not sanctioned by police.
“Sixteen of them were arrested. I think people think it’s now fashionable, but police will not stop maintaining order. The march was not cleared by police,” she said.
Zimbabwe National Students’ Union (Zinasu) spokesperson Avoid Masiraha said Obey Shava; a member of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, was by last night battling to secure their release.
“We had a demonstration from Rezende Street to Second Street when police intercepted and started assaulting everyone there. Some were seriously injured,” he said.
“The march was all about female students from different tertiary institutions who were protesting against poor accommodation, sexual harassment and exorbitant fees as well as the right to education.”
The arrests came hard on the heels of a massive clampdown on demonstrations being organised by the main opposition MDC-T against the worsening economic situation in the country. Newsday