By Tinoonga Mawere, Gutu| An unidentified woman dumped a live owl at The Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ) premises at Mupandawana town in a bizarre incident that left congregants in a state of shock.
 
The woman stormed the church premises early this week and dumped the owl and also attempted to dump a one metre long snake at the doorstep as awe struck congregants watched in disbelief . The snake however forced its way into the woman ‘s handbag and she disappeared from the scene leaving the frightened congregants watching from a distance .
RCZ Reverend Julius Mutumburanzou confirmed the incident but could not shed more light on it. He said the church was carrying out further investigations into the matter .
 
Congregants who witnessed the incident said members of the Johane Masowe Vapositori were called to burn the owl and remove the bad omen from the Church premises while others claimed the owl disappeared from the premises in a mysterious way.
 
“It is really shocking and we could not believe our eyes when the woman dumped the owl in broad day light . We do not even know where she comes from but many people believe it was a superstitious act. Maybe she wanted to get rid of her witchcraft paraphernalia and she decided to dump the owl ,” said a female RCZ congregant.
 
A member of the Vapositori cult at Mupandawana identified as Madzibaba Jeremiah said: “The woman is being tormented by the spirit of witchcraft and that is why she dumped the owl and also attempted to leave her snake at the premises. The spirit of witchcraft can torment those involved in the use of black magic. ” Although the incident was reported at Gutu police the Zimbabwean government does not formally recognise the existence witchcraft and superstition.