The Sunday Mail
Tendai Chara
ON May 16, 2015 our sister paper The Herald ran an unusual article titled “Rapist ghost on the prowl”.
In the article, several pregnant women waiting to deliver their babies at Makande Clinic Mothers Waiting Shelter in Kariba District, Mashonaland West Province, made bizarre and startling claims.
A ghost, they said, was on the prowl at the clinic, targeting defenseless pregnant women.
The ghost would allegedly rape the women during the dead of the night.
Within two months — it was claimed — more than 25 women had fallen victim to this supernatural being, which was said to have had an insatiable sexual appetite for expecting mothers.
According to the expecting mothers, a “man” would mysteriously enter the secured shelter, mostly at around midnight. He would briefly sit on a stool, before pouncing on the helpless victims.
What surprised them is that before retiring to bed, there would be no stools in their respective rooms. Furthermore, the doors would also have been locked from inside.
One of the victims was quoted saying: “When the ghost abused you, all the other women sleeping in that room also noticed but they did not have the strength to shout for help or rescue you. The man is so powerful, you could not push him away once he grabbed you.”
According to locals, the mysterious “man” would at times “rape” all the women sleeping in the shelter before leaving during the wee hours of the morning.
Explained one of the alleged victims: “It all seemed real. You could feel it. The challenge was that one’s mouth was muzzled by an unimaginable force.”
Victims alleged that the ghost appeared as a silhouette of a real man in a shirt and pair of trousers. lt hid its face and did not talk to anyone. Chilling details of how the ghost would do whatever it wanted with the victims whilst their bodies were numb and unable to resist emerged. Upon waking up, the alleged victims could see signs that they had been intimate with a man. But whilst a section of the community attributed the mysterious attacks to a ghost, others were convinced that the attacks were being orchestrated by an unknown serial rapist.
Others, like Zimbabwe National Practitioners Association (ZINPA) president, Sekuru Friday Chisanyu, attributed the attacks to the use of juju. Sekuru Chisanyu claimed that a local person who wanted to get rich quickly was using juju. By sleeping with pregnant women, the person believed that his fortunes would change overnight. Others, on the other hand, dismissed the supposed sightings as mere imagination. As shockwaves, fear and panic engulfed the local community and neighbouring areas, the communities sprang into action.
Both traditional healers and prophets were summoned from far and wide as the community sought to stop the alleged ghost. All-night vigils and prayers involving more than 10 local churches were conducted.
Traditional healers joined the fray, turning the health institution into a spiritual war zone.
However, despite the efforts, the menacing ghost still pounced on the shell-shocked victims. Then, without warning and to the relief of the locals, the paranormal sightings ended as abruptly as they had begun. Although they were relieved that their women had been spared, the local community is still searching for answers.
“It has been three years but we are still anxious and confused. The attacker might still be roaming around and waiting to strike again,” said Romeo Mupita, a local.
Was a serial rapist on the prowl? If the attacks were perpetrated by a ghost, or a human being, why did the attacker only target pregnant women? Who was behind the attacks and why did they suddenly stop? With no suspect and no arrests three years on, these questions will, for a long time, be asked by the soul-searching community.
Some villagers are still living in fear as they believe that the Makande “demon” is still out there and waiting for the “right” time to strike again. Probably if Sekuru Ndunge, the late famous Chipinge traditional healer was alive today, he might have helped unravel this mystery.
