Angry residents of Madombidzha demonstrated outside the Tshilwavhusiku Magistrate’s Court last Friday, where they bayed for the blood of the five suspects who were accused of kidnapping a young boy. The five who were originally accused include three traditional healers.

Last Friday, the director of public prosecution's decision not to detain the suspects any longer was announced. This was apparently because of the lack of evidence to link the five with the boy's disappearance.

A representative of the community, Mr Victor Ratshibayi, said that the court had failed the community at large, because the community never thought that the five would be released. "We have been demonstrating outside the court for many days and have handed over memorandums, but our pleas were never heard," said Ratshibayi. "This is the time to start our own defence units and task teams, because the state is failing us. The release of the five sends a bad message to the public. Everyone in the community, including young children, were against the release of the five, but it pains us to note that our pleas had fallen on deaf ears," he said.

Ratshibayi says that they would consult other stakeholders to see what could be done, because the release of the five was not fair. "As the community and the family of the missing boy, we need the child back,” he said.

Ms Mubvafhi Tshivhi, who represented the missing boy's family, also expressed her disappointment. "How can the court withdraw a case in which suspects were facing such serious charges, while our child is still missing? Nobody is safe now because the law is failing every community member," she said. She added that they were going to appeal against the decision. "We want to see those suspects going back to the cells, until they tell the truth," she said. "We can't rest until we've found our children. Even if they killed him, we want to bury him with dignity."

One of the suspects, Mr Johannes Ramaremela, said that even though the charges against him had been dropped, his family was being victimized. "I felt relieved when the court withdrew the case," he said, "but the community is angry with us and they don't want me any more at Madombidzha."