Courts should stand tough against the spirit of Joro
Residents in Ruwa are in a state of shock and disbelief after an 8-year-old girl was raped, killed and dumped in nearby fields. Even Grade Seven children are now accompanied to the Thorncroft School, for the fear that anything can happen. One prominent name behind all this is a 22-year-old man called Jeremiah Mazarura alias Joro. A young man well known in the area as Joro. In Ruwa, any behavior that denotes heartlessness is refereed to as that of Joro.
To those that saw Joro soon after the incident, he was by no means a different man. As normal and happy as usual, even after the police released him. At first, no one could really tell that the blood of the little girl was fresh on his hands. Even at the burial of the girl, witnesses’ say that Joro was as affected and worried as any other shocked person in the locality.
Every Ruwa resident is desperately waiting for the 11th of May. A day set for the appearance of Joro and friends in court over this murder case.
The press reports that the motive behind the killing was the need to stop the girl from reporting the rape or making any signals. The community holds a different view. The belief in the gossip is that the girl was killed for some business purpose since the child was found without some body parts.
Joro’s is not the only weird story around; people are taking lives for the purpose of rituals that only the nyangas (traditional magicians) can tell their meaning. One wonders what has happened to moral and peace loving Zimbabweans? Human life has been reduced to that of a simple monkey or chicken. Why are citizens becoming this bloodthirsty? Can we put the blame on the tough time we have been in and are still enduring; that of political, economic and social difficulties? Before, these stories were really foreign to Zimbabweans. Now what is happening? Can this be one of the disadvantages of globalization? It is really disturbing and inhumane.
It is important that the courts be exemplary in giving tough punishment to these murderers. People should be freed from living in fear. They need smiles back on their faces, and peace and tranquility should exist in communities. Love for money and success should not be at the expense of human life. If these murders are done with “nyangas” and business people behind them, it is high time such culprits are traced to the root.