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Cape Town – At least nine Zimbabwean men reportedly sustained severe injuries after they were whipped on the buttocks with switches by a chief’s security forces in Botswana, according to a report.
The nine were canned for entering the country illegally.
The state-owned newspaper, The Herald reported on Monday that one of the victims of the assault, Ezekiel Mukuya spent three days unable to sit because of the severity of the injuries.
Mukuyu who worked in Botswana as a tout said he was loaded into a vehicle together with other illegal immigrants and were taken to the homestead of the chief only identified as Nkgageng.
There, they appeared before the chief’s community court. They were then taken to a room and ordered to undress and lie down on the floor before they were all whipped on the buttocks with switches.
Five women, who were arrested together with the nine men, were not caned but ordered to pay fines, the report said.
Botswana police confirmed the incident, adding that the country's chiefs were responsible for giving corporal punishment of six cuts.
Volumes of Zimbabweans cross into Botswana and other neighbouring countries in search for work, as Zimbabwe’s economy continues to deteriorate.
Botswana's law enforcement agencies conduct patrols along the border with Zimbabwe, as well as urban sweeps, to find illegal migrants.
However, the deportees quickly find their way back through illegal entry points.
