by Tawanda Chiweshe
The Zimbabwe Republic Police has denied a story which was doing rounds on the social media that a police officer had accidentally killed a baby in Harare on Monday, this week.
For the past two days the social media was abuzz with a video featuring a woman holding a baby on one hand and pulling a policeman by the collar. The rumour-driven explanation offered by many was that the unnamed police officer had struck to death a baby on the woman’s back, as he and other police officers tried to disperse hikers waiting for transport to Bindura along Sam Nujoma Street in Harare’s Avenues area on Monday, this week.
In a statement issued today by the ZRP Spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner, Paul Nyathi, the Police explained that, contrary to the rumour, the baby had not died. He pointed out that the incident occurred when police officers were trying to arrest a kombi crew for picking passenger at an undesignated point.
“The (ZRP) member smashed a windscreen on the combi and the fragments hit the mother and the baby. A fracas occurred as the mother and members of the public remonstrated against officers. After negotiations by the parties, the mother and the baby were taken to West End Clinic, where medical checks revealed that no injuries had been sustained by the baby or the mother. There were no life-threatening injuries to the two,” Ass Comm Nyathi said.
The Police spokesperson condemned the smashing of kombi windows and pledged that action would be taken against the police officers involved in the incident.
“The ZRP does not condone acts of smashing kombi windscreens and in the process endangering innocent members of the public’s lives. The ZRP reiterates that action will be taken against the errant police officers,” he said.
The story brought to the fore Government detractors’ penchant for pushing the negative narrative of police brutality even when they do not have any concrete facts to support their claims. It also cast a spotlight on the scourge of fake news, which is facilitated by the proliferation of social media.
