Usual caveats about the reliability of sources must apply, but the blog of Zimbabwean pro-democracy movement Sokwanele today posts an account of the killing of a woman in public by the Zimbabwean police.
The incident, according to Sokwanele's informant, "Kofi", came as around 60 uniformed members of the Zimbabwean police demolished "illegal" homes in Bulawayo. The policy – official slum clearance – has left around 300,000 people homeless in mainly opposition-supporting areas.
Close by, on plot 8687, was a 7-bedroomed house […] an elderly woman, whose age Kofi estimates at about 60 years, was watching in silence from a distance. One of the uniformed thugs confronted the woman. In an arrogant manner he demanded to know: "Why are you standing there?" When the woman did not answer immediately he struck her across the chest with a garden fork.
The woman, Sokwanele adds, died on the spot. The police then took her body away.
