Pressure for parliamentary probe into student death

Students at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) want Parliament to set up a commission of inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death of Batanai Hadzizi, a first-year colleague, the ‘Daily News’ reported on Friday. Hadzizi was allegedly fatally assaulted by riot police on Monday morning, but the police said he was trampled by other students fleeing from teargas fired into their hostels.

A postmortem report has given the cause of Hadzizi’s death as, “asphyxia due to bilateral lung contusions and rib-cage soft tissue injuries caused by blunt force”. Innocent Mupara, the newly-elected president of UZ’s Students’ Executive Council said on Thursday students would petition Parliament to initiate an inquiry.

Students wanted Augustine Chihuri, the Police Commissioner, to resign over what Mupara said was excessive use of force by police. Mupara blamed police and the university’s security guards for Hadzizi’s death. He said the Ministry of Home Affairs should shoulder responsibility for allegedly shooting students with pellet guns. Some students still had shrapnel lodged in their bodies, he said. Several students were injured when police fired teargas and pellets during a foiled attempt to prevent a protest in solidarity with Hadzizi.