HARARE – Police Commissioner General Godwin Matanga has been ordered to compensate a roadblock shooting victim for US$16,000 by the High Court.
Loveness Chiriseni was shot by a police officer on her buttocks on August 19, 2018, after the driver of a vehicle in which she was a passenger failed to stop at a police check point at the intersection of Seke and Delport Road in Chitungwiza.
Justice Edith Mushore said the police officers used “unbridled excessive force” without assessing impact of their actions on the other occupants of the vehicle.
In a judgement made available on Tuesday, Justice Mushore said: “Looking at the facts, it is undeniable that Chiriseni posed no danger to the public or to the internal security of the country or law and order.
“It is undeniable that the police officer had no basis (to shoot her) per constitutional provisions.”
The judge said if it was police officers’ intention to stop the driver, they should have fired warning shots into the air.
The court heard that police officers from St Mary’s Police Station motioned for the vehicle driven by one Lloyd Sibanda to stop, but the driver ignored the police instructions.
A police officer who was standing in the middle of the road shot at the vehicle with a firearm. The startled driver is reported to have held his head in his hands in terror, causing the vehicle to veer off the road just before the police position.
The police officer fired a second shot directly at the vehicle. The bullet from the second shot ricocheted and ended up piercing Chiriseni’s right buttock.
Chiriseni immediately felt a sharp pain in her buttock region and began bleeding profusely from the wound and she was rushed to hospital.
“Further having fired the first shot at the vehicle, the police officer should have been motivated to prevent the potential loss of lives occurring from a car accident,” Justice Mushore said.
“By firing a second shot at a vehicle which was not able to breach the roadblock because the driver had lost control, and the vehicle which he had not inventoried to see if there were any passengers on board, the police officer deployed unbridled excessive force which was not justifiable and thus failed to exercise his constitutionally imposed duty of care which he owed to the plaintiff.”
Chiriseni filed a lawsuit against Matanga also citing Home Affairs minister Kazembe Kazembe and the officer in charge of St Mary’s police station as respondents.
She demanded a total of US$16,788.75 of which US$778,75 was for special damages for hospital and medical expenses.
She demanded US$2,000 damages for future medical expenses, US$5,000 for nervous shock arising from the shooting, $US5,000 for pain and suffering, US$2,000 for disfigurement and US$2,000 for loss of amenities.
The judge upheld the claim and the respondents did not challenge medical reports produced by Chiriseni’s doctors.
