KIMBERLY KUSAUKA
HARARE- A grade 4 pupil from Tafara 1 Primary School in Tafara suburb allegedly collapsed and died after seeing the Nyau or zvigul/re in Zimbabwe on her way back from school.
Circumstances are that on 15 May at around 3pm the pupil only identified as Makanaka was coming from school in the company of some of her class mates when they encountered the zvigure which shocked them and started to run away.
Upon fleeing from these zvigure Makanaka is said to have lost control of herself and collapsed near a market place where some ladies were conducting their business.
It is said, they ignored the child hoping she would wake up but after some time they discovered that was unconscious and called for help.
Her class teacher who was passing by identified her and called her grandmother identified as Debra Reppoh who resides in Eastern Heights, Calledonia Phase 5.
Reppoh rushed to the incident and took Makanaka to Pacific 24 hour hospital in Tafara where she was declared dead upon arrival.
She was lying at the scene for over 2 hours until her grandmother came and took her to hospital.
Close relatives to the deceased were not ready to speak openly about the matter when The Midweek Watch approached them for comments as they were still in shock.
It is alleged that the zvigure were mourning one of their members who had recently passed away hence the spirit needed human blood which led to the mysterious death of the school child.
Anonymous sources said there was commotion between the members of gule culture and members of the community where the incident occurred which led to some fights.
The post-mortem results were not yet available when the story was written. It was also alleged that the late Makanaka lived with her grandmother while her mother was in South Africa in search of greener pastures.
Nyau is a tribe which originated from the Bantu people from Central and Southern Africa. In Harare the Nyau community is found in high density suburbs of Mufakose, Mbare, Mabvuku, and Dzivarasekwa as well as mining and farming communities.
