however been vaccinated against Tetanus. He had also been
stamped on, on his chest with police gumboots. His buttocks were
also swollen which confirmed complainant’s testimony that he had
been beaten on his buttocks with a baton stick. She administered
pain killers on him even though she highlighted that his wounds were
healing and that the swelling would subside with time.
8.3
Expert Opinion was also sought through interviews with Professional
Counsellors (PCs) from CSU who attended to some of the complainants
after the incident. The PCs indicated that they carry out a psychological
assessment which a scale of 1-14 called the Shona Symptom
Questionnaire (SSQ). Any level from 8 and above is an indicator of high
psychological stress. They also do a physical assessment which is out of
60 and an assessment of sleep patterns which is out of 32.
8.3.1 The Counsellor who attended to Complainant B revealed that when
she went through a counselling session with him on the 12th of July
2016, he had a high SSQ of 8/14. His sleep was at 5/32 meaning
that he had high sleep disturbance and his physical condition was
32/60 which means that his physical status was not well. He was
emotionally traumatized by the incident and had so many worries.
He was worried that as they were being ferried to the Harare Central
Police Station, there were some people who were bleeding and
because they were too many in the vehicle ferrying them, he got
some blood stains on his person which made him worried about the
possibility of contracting HIV/ AIDS. He was also worried that his leg
which he had been operated two years back might not heal since the
Anti-riot police assaulted that leg despite him having informed them
about the operation. He was anxious that the police would come and
break in at his house again. He was also anxious about the outcome
of the pending court case on the 28th of July 2016 because he is the
family breadwinner and if he was sent to jail, he was worried about
the future of his family in his absence. Although his cognition was
intact, his concentration was low because he was in pain. He was
also confused as to why the Anti-riot police broke into his tuck-shop
yet he was not part of the crowd that went to Chiremba turnoff where
the altercation between the police and touts took place.
8.3.2 The Counsellor indicated that Complainant C had moderate
psychological stress but was characterized by thinking a lot, lack of
concentration and tiredness. Her physical assessment was high at
33/60 due to chest pains, coughing a lot and tiredness. She was
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