ZAMBIA – NYAU dancers (masquerades) who were allegedly hired by a 50-year-old woman of Magazine Township to discipline her husband, whom she accused of stealing household goods, used hot wires to torture the man to death at a shrine.
This is according to results of a post-mortem conducted on the body of 48-year-old Joseph Phiri.
Mr Phiri was reported to Nyau dancers by the wife Racheal Daka, so that he could be counselled and stop stealing from home.
According to the police Mr Phiri was apprehended by Nyau dancers around 20 hours after the wife paid them K30 to have him disciplined at Dambwe.
Dambwe is a secret place mainly located in the graveyard where young men are intitated into Nyau dancers also known as Gule Wamukulu, and also a place where materials for the masquerades are kept.
Eastern Province acting police Commanding officer Davis Simwanza said Mr Phiri was apprehended on August 9, 2022 by a group of Nyau dancers.
The Nyaus were allegedly led by Esau Phiri, 38, of Magazine Township who later handed Mr Phiri to Andrew Banda, aged 23, and Commercial Nkata, 21 both of the sane township.
Mr Phiri’s body was later found in a drainage 150 meters from the shrine.
It was established that Mr Phiri died at the shrine and was later dumped in the drainage by the Nyau dancers.
The post-mortem conducted at Chipata Central Hospital indicated that the cause of Mr Phiri’s death was homicide violence.
“The post-mortem report shows that the deceased was whipped using wires which were first put on fire.”
“It has also been established that the deceased was beaten by that same wire repeatedly,” a source at the hospital who witnessed the post-mortem said.
And addresing mourners during burial yesterday, Magazine Township section vice chairperson Philimon Mwale, said Mr Phiri was allegedly tortured at the shrine before he died.
“This person lying here was badly beaten and his body has bruises. His private parts were also burnt using hot objects,” he said.
Mr Mwale disclosed that the deceased’s wife reported him to Nayau dancers so that he should be counselled.
And When the family members inquired about Mr Phiri from the Nyau leaders on when they would free Mr Phiri, they kept on telling stories untill it was established that he died at the same shrine.
Police have since apprehended Mr Nkhata and Mr Banda to help with investigations.
Last year a 26-year-olf Nyau dancer of Vwala Village in Kasenengwa district was sentenced to hang for torturing his fellow masquerade, Chipateni Soko, to death.
The masquerade used a log of fire and inserted a small dry stick inside his manhood as punishment for burning down the shrine.
Credit: Zambia Daily Mail
