By A Correspondent| Police have commenced conducting an inquest to ascertain the cause of death of a Chivhu woman, who died last year from injuries sustained as a result of severe assault and torture by its officers.
Mukaro, a mother of two, died early in September 2021 from injuries sustained as a result of the severe assault and torture inflicted uponher by Detective Steven Dondo and some police officers in a “Darkroom”at Chivhu Police Station, where she was detained after being accusedof stealing US$1 000.
The inquest to establish the death of Sharai Mukaro began on Wednesday30 March 2022 at Chivhu Magistrates Court and continued on Thursday 31March 2022 with Detective Dondo testifying and claiming that Mukaro’shusband Pastor Abinel Mukaro had told him that she had some heartproblems.
However, three witnesses namely Pastor Mukaro, the deceased’s husband, her daughter Ivy Mukaro and Pastor Mukaro’s workmate Pastor Nelson Chirambadare, told the court that Sharai wasassaulted under her feet by ZRP officers while in police custody.
According to a medical report, the cause of death of Sharai was as aresult of blood clots and indicated that several blows were inflictedupon her.
The inquest was only instituted after Tinashe Chinopfukutwa of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights issued a notice of intention to sueon Detective Dondo, ZRP Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga and Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe. In thenotice of intention to sue, Chinopfukutwa stated that Dondo fatally assaulted Mukaro after having threatened to kill her.
Chinopfukutwaprotested that the conduct of police officers who tortured Mukaro todeath is a breach of the constitutional obligation of the PoliceService to protect and secure the lives of Zimbabwean citizens asprovided for under Section 219(1)(c) of the Constitution.
The human rights lawyer also formally requested that the criminal investigations on the death of the deceased which were being handled by police officers from Chivhu Police Station be conducted by lawenforcement agents from another police station as he does not reasonably expect police officers at Chivhu Police Station to investigate themselves and accord justice to his clients, who arePastor Mukaro and Ivy.