Zimbabwe police on Wednesday said they have arrested a man claiming to be a prophet of an apostolic sect at a shrine where believers stay in a compound and authorities found 16 unregistered graves, including those of infants, and more than 250 children used as cheap labor.
Police established that all children of school-going age did not attend formal education and were subjected to abuse as cheap labor, doing manual work in the name of being taught life skills,' said Nyathi. Police said among the graves they found were those of seven infants whose burials were not registered with authorities. He said police officers raided the shrine on Tuesday.
The country’s top prosecutor in January ordered that the pastor and over 90 people from the doomsday cult be charged with murder, cruelty, child torture and other crimes in the deaths of 429 people believed to be members of the church.