Men with machetes are back terrorising Maputo – O País

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Men with machetes are back terrorising Maputo – O País

2:06 CAT | 04 Jan 2021

Photo: O País

After a period of relative tranquillity, men armed with machetes are allegedly back sowing terror in the Mulaúze River area between the cities of Maputo and Matola. Between the 23rd and 31st of December, three persons were robbed and assaulted by men armed with machetes.

Marcelino Zacarias, 35 years old and a father of three, is the most recent victim of the malefactors, and suffered serious injuries. He was approached by individuals armed with machetes at around 11:00 p.m. on the night of 23 December as he was returning from work an area close to Missão Roque in Maputo.

Four men, all dressed in black and wielding machetes, dragged the young sailor to a market garden on the banks of the Mulaúze River, after tying his arm and legs. So constrained, he was stripped of two mobile phones, 2,700 meticais and a backpack.

The haul included the 17 kilograms of squid that the victim was taking home for Christmas celebrations.

Zacarias said that, once his belongings were taken from him, he was left with one of the aggressors who was assigned with taking his life.

“I was tied up, and they left me with one of the members [of the group] who was supposed to cut my neck or legs. But he spared me. I removed the ropes and crawled to the street, where I asked for help at the police station. I called my wife using the phone of one of the police officers, then we went to the hospital. They had cut my knee, and I had seven stitches. They also cut me on my arms and back – I thank God that I am alive,” the young man related.

Lídia Lázaro, assaulted four times in the same area, lost her husband in a machete attack in 2006 when she was pregnant with their son, now 14 years old, who never knew his father.

Her nephew was also a victim, on the night of December 25 after Family Day celebrations, and suffered cuts to his legs and face. The victim was at the medical centre being treated for his injuries as the woman was speaking to ‘O Pais’.

There is a police post near the place where all these assaults have taken place, but the community says it seems unable to stem the crime wave.

By Amandio Borges

Source: O País