A clinic that was opened in February this year in Umzingwane district, Matabeleland South, has been forced to close after nurses complained of being sexually abused by invisible creatures suspected to be goblins (tokoloshes).
The attacks have also been reported at the nearby Shale Primary School where some teachers are threatening to leave if the problem is not dealt with as a matter of urgency.
Shale Clinic was built through combined funding from devolution funds, the constituency development fund and contributions from the local authority, the Umzingwane Rural District Council.
Its closure has left villagers with no option but to travel as far as Esigodini for treatment. Temba Moyo, a villager who spoke to ZimLive, said:
The clinic is closed because two female nurses and a male health technician ran away after complaining that they were being sexually abused.
They woke up moist in their privates with signs that they had sexual intercourse. This was happening at night.
At the moment there’s just a janitor and nurse aide who live in the community.
Moyo said a village meeting was called after they concluded that the bizarre occurrences were the work of goblins.
The meeting resolved to enlist the services of prophets or traditional leaders to deal with the goblins.
It was also agreed that whoever is found “guilty” would pay for the services of the exorcists and the owner of the tikoloshes would also be banished from the village.
Moyo said the villagers hired a member of an apostolic sect from Rusape and all the villagers were called for the cleansing ceremony.
He said a local ZANU PF councillor was pointed out as the owner of the tikoloshes but she quickly reported the matter to the police who arrested the prophets and later fined them US$20 each at Esigodini and released them.
Local headman Man Nkala told ZimLive that he was in discussions with the acting chief to deal with the problem and get the clinic to reopen.
Another villager who declined to be named told the publication that the attacks started in September this year. Added the villager:
There were two nurses and a health technician. They initially started complaining about being tired when reporting for duty in the morning and were claiming that they were not having restful nights.
They then opened up and explained what was happening at the clinic. The male health technician had a torrid time one night with the creatures pulling his penis and testicles.
He struggled walking in the morning as his privates were swollen. His wife had a miscarriage recently and we believe this could be linked to the tikoloshe issue.
They left as they could stand the abuse anymore.
The head nurse and the health technician have gone on leave while the other nurse was reportedly redeployed to Mpisini Clinic in the district.
At nearby Shale Primary School, it is claimed teachers are also being molested by the goblins.
The tokoloshes are raping female teachers while men wake up with swollen privates, a villager claimed.