The Sunday Mail
Imagine the trauma of a missing child’s parent. Imagine being told that the child ‘might’ have been found. A flicker of hope ensues. And then you are shown burnt human remains that are not recognisable.
You are told that you have to spend a whole week for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test results to ascertain the identify of the body as it is in an advanced stage of decomposition.
Finally, the week lapses and you are given hard blows in conclusion —it is indeed your child who was kidnapped, murdered, mutilated, burnt and dumped in a bushy area.
During all the melee, you will be receiving threatening messages from anonymous people.
“Wakakaura ndichakutumira zvidhoma. Chero ukadaro wazvinzwa (I fixed you, I will send you goblins. No matter what you do, you have heard me),” reads one of the messages seen by The Sunday Mail.
Sounds fictitious, but this is what Simbarashe and Favourate Muringo of Gweru in Midlands Province went through.
lt is even worse to imagine the suffering of the victim — Blessed Muringo (4) — before he breathed his last.
The body of the young boy was recently found near Mkoba Village 20.
On June 12 this year, Mrs Muringo returned from church to find her child missing.
At first, she suspected that her child had gone to her neighbour’s house to play.
But minutes turned into hours and she began to panic.
The hours turned into days and still her son did not come home.
The Muringos said they tried everything to locate their child, including engaging spirit mediums and prophets but all was to no avail even though they were being told that the child was still alive.
“My child went missing on Sunday June 12 after I left him with some neighbours to attend a church service.
“When I returned, the child was not at home and I enquired from those I had left him with.
“They said Blessed had told them that he was going to the toilet,” she said.
After failing to locate Blessed, the parents then made a police report for a missing person.
Three weeks of searching went by and then some students at Top Class Private College discovered a charred body of a male juvenile dumped near some gum trees in Mkoba Village 20.
The parents went to the scene but could not positively identify the body as it was already decomposing.
“We went to the scene where the body was found and discovered that it had missing body parts.
“The head was bludgeoned. The body was burnt beyond recognition,” said Blessing’s grandfather, Mr Claudius Tsava-Muringo.
The body was then taken to Gweru Provincial Hospital where DNA samples were taken and sent to National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo for testing.
The results positively identified Blessed Muringo.
A sombre atmosphere engulfed the Muringo residence in Mkoba 15 where hundreds of mourners converged to pay their last respects to the young boy in an emotional send-off.
After the burial, mourners headed for Nehanda Police Station in Mkoba 19 where the missing person’s report had been made.
The mourners staged a 30-minute demonstration before leaving a petition for Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo and the Commissioner General of Police, Augustine Chihuri; registering displeasure in how the police had handled the missing person’s report.
“We, the Mkoba North Community are not happy with Nehanda Police Station action and investigations in the above matter. Blessed Muringo disappeared from home on 12.6.16. But up to date, no interviews have been conducted and no arrests have been made. We therefore demand a full inquiry into the issue and would like to see a thorough investigation done.
“We demand police efficiency in dealing with issues affecting the community.
‘‘We therefore demand answers in the way the investigation is being handled,” reads part of the petition which had more than 300 signatures appended on it.
Mr Simbarashe Muringo said his son’s death is difficult to comprehend.
“I am still failing to come to terms with the fact that my son died such a painful and violent death.
“Sometimes as a parent, I feel I should have done better to protect my family.
‘‘I hope the culprits will be caught and brought to book,” he said while trying to hold back tears.
Soon after the tragic incident, another teenager from Mkoba Village 16, Taonezvi Musoni was kidnapped and forced to touch live electric wires. Fortunately, he survived the horror attack and is battling for his life at Gweru Provincial Hospital.
Taonezvi claims that he was shown six male juvenile private parts by those who had kidnapped him.
Acting Midlands Police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende said the police had picked three suspects but released them due to lack of evidence.
She said they have embarked on massive awareness campaigns in schools and churches to alert parents of kidnappers who are on the loose.
