men who were found in the houses or who came out when soldiers
knocked were beaten. If no man came out they would get into the
bedrooms and search for them. A man who was beaten by the soldiers
said they called him and when he was coming out of his bedroom, the
soldiers poured water on him and asked him to lie down in the passage.
They assaulted him with logs. They only stopped the beatings after he
told them that he was a sick person and they were killing him. He said,
‘Ini ndiri murwere makutondipedzisawo zvenyu’.
5.8.5. Another man who was interviewed said that he was beaten in his house
by the soldiers. He said in his area the soldiers were beating up all
young men using sticks and logs. He also said he suspects that many
of them were not army officers but civilians who were wearing army
uniforms. He said he came to that conclusion because the people were
rowdy yet he knows army personnel to be disciplined. He also said the
army punishes people and does not beat them with sticks and logs.
5.8.6. The ZHRC had interviews with two women who said the soldiers were
targeting all young men in the area. One woman said no one was
beaten at her house because there was no man. The other one said
her husband was beaten. On the day of the Commission’s visit he had
gone to work. She said he did not seek for medical assistance.
5.8.7. The ZHRC interviewed a 66-year-old woman who was beaten by the
soldiers. She was in the company of her daughter who was present
when the soldiers broke into their house. She stated that the day (14
January 2019) had started as normal as any other day. She said she
was doing her laundry around 0900 hours when she heard a lot of noise
outside the house where a mob was passing by from Mabvuku Road
going to Mutare Road. They were barricading roads and burning tyres.
They were shouting saying, ‘Budai panze ngatiende tese. Muri kugara
Page 29 of 68
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