Two fake traditional healers in Kwekwe, Zimbabwe attempted to con a family but were caught red handed trying to plant a live python at the homestead.
The healers, identified as Tinashe Mataga and Freedom Phiri, claimed they needed to cleanse the home of 72-year-old Nakai Gono who was ill. Gono’s daughter Stella Ziya had called in the traditional healers.
However, Mataga and Phiri got the python from Elias Magumise which they intended to plant at the home and pretend they had cleansed the homestead. They asked Ziya to fetch water and salt for the ritual.
But when Ziya returned, she saw the two removing a python from their satchel and hiding it behind a wardrobe. Ziya became even more suspicious when one of the healers vomited beer during the prayer session.
Ziya reported the matter to police who arrested Mataga and Phiri. They later implicated Magumise for supplying the python.
The approximately three-meter long python was handed over to the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management.
The trio – Mataga, Phiri and Magumise – face charges of unlawfully removing an animal from land in violation of the Parks and Wildlife Act. They were granted $150,000 Zimbabwean dollars bail each.
