HARARE – Police have confirmed the arrest of a woman linked to the shock assault of a 10-month-old baby in an incident exposed in a viral video recently.
Police said in their official X handle the incident happened at a village in Mutare last week.
“The ZRP confirms the arrest of a 30-year-old woman for allegedly assaulting her baby girl (10 months) with a stick at Temberere Village, Zimunya, Mutare on 11th October 2024.
“The incident came to light after a disturbing video went viral on social media, showing the woman brutally attacking the child while ordering her to be quiet and forcing her to crawl,” police said.
The woman’s face does not appear in the 20-second video although she repeatedly mutters the word “kambaira (crawl)”.
The incident was met with shock by the public which demanded the identification of the woman and her immediate arrest.
The flogging on the infant spotlights rampant abuse of vulnerable minors within communities in the country with many cases often going unreported due to a number of reasons.
The advent of social media and phone technology has however opened a new avenue through which abuse can be brought to the police’s attention without the victims physically visiting police stations to report their nightmares.
The abuses often captured on phone footage help police track down the culprits.
