Muslims in Chegutu are furious after the government said they were to blame to the Cholera outbreak. The government claimed the way Mu...
Muslims in Chegutu are furious after the government said
they were to blame to the Cholera outbreak.
The government claimed the way Muslims cleaned the dead was
to blame for the spread of cholera.
Chegutu Muslim community secretary Valdhi Chiutila said the
comments were damaging. “We are still waiting for government officials who
misrepresented to the world about how we handle our dead to come forward and
apologise,” he told The Standard.
“We were angered by false statements about how we clean the
dead.” Chiutila said the statements created an impression that they open the
bowels of the dead and clean the intestines with bare hands, which was not
true.
He said be claims that the body of the first cholera
victim, 70-year-old Laita Mungulisia, woman, was bathed by men were false.
Health and Child Care minister David Parirenyatwa insisted
the community must be open about how they treat their dead.
“We respect all religions and encourage them to abide by
the laws of the country in terms of health standards, but they (Muslims) must
be open to let those who want to witness their burial rituals come to demystify
the notions held by people,” he said.
“I will be glad if they invite me to see how they clean
their dead.”
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