mudzimba munoda kugadzirirwa nyika nani’, meaning that everyone was supposed to come out of their houses to join them as they were solving the problems of the country. Her children who had risen up early in the morning and gone to the fields around 0500hrs said on their way back home they had been advised by passerbys’ that the protestors would beat them if they found them in the fields. She said the noise was so terrifying that she locked her gate for fear that she and her family could be forced to join in the protests. 5.8.8. Later on, she heard the people now shouting again and the noise had increased. They were saying to the police ‘ndokutema’ (I will stone you) and throwing stones. They were actually fighting with the police. She said in her view the police were actually being overpowered as the people were so many and angry. At around the same time the children arrived from school. In the afternoon lorries of soldiers passed going to Mabvuku Road. She felt relieved that they would calm things and protect them as the noise that was happening was worrisome. The soldiers were calling to people to remove the barricades on the roads. 5.8.9. Around 7 pm the police threw teargas. It wasn’t thrown near her home but they could smell it. They had their supper and slept. Around midnight they heard a knock on the gate. They ignored as they had heard noises outside and knew that there was violence. A few minutes later they heard their window and door being broken and the soldiers got in. There were about 10 of them armed with guns and sjamboks. She asked her son who had visited her that day to hide under her bed. When the soldiers asked if there was a man in the house, she said there was not. The soldiers searched the house. One of them saw her son under the bed and he actually celebrated screaming saying we have found what we were looking for. They started beating him in the Page 30 of 68