A self-proclaimed prophet and her husband have landed themselves in trouble following the mysterious death of an infant at their hands. The faith healer and her husband are alleged to have tried to cover up the child’s death by burying her within one hour without notifying the authorities. The strange incident occured in Harare’s Zimre Park suburb.

According to national broadcaster ZBC News, the faith healer and her husband are the paternal grandparents of the deceased child. The husband is employed at Zimre Park Secondary School as a security guard.

The now-deceased child is reported to not have been feeling well. The grandmother who is a known faith healer is reported to have tried to perform some rituals to heal the child. However, the rituals did not go as planned and the infant died.

The couple is reported to have connived to cover up the murder. Barely an hour after the baby died, the grandparents took the body to a nearby riverbank. Under cover of darkness, the grandfather dug a grave on the riverbank before burying the infant’s body. The grandparents were assisted by two other people in the burial.

However, the bursar and the caretaker at the school saw that something was amiss. They followed the developments from a distance and suspected that their colleague and his wife may have buried the child on the riverbank. Both the bursar and the caretaker were able to pinpoint the spot of the suspected burial.

The couple and two other people were later arrested after a police report was filed. The prophet apologised for her actions and claimed that they had acted out of ignorance. She went on to say that she thought people in towns also follow the same cultural rites practised in the rural areas.

According to national police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, the incident occured in June and four people have since been picked up by the police in connection with the case. They face charges under the Births And Deaths Registration Act (Chapter 5:02).