Man kills 2.5m python for meat
2005-09-02 13:40
Harare - A Zimbabwean man has gone into hiding after killing a well-known 2.5m long python in the remote town of Dotito, the Herald Reporter newspaper reported on Friday.
The man was intending to eat the snake, which he found in a nearby mountain in the town which is about 140km north of Harare.
The man's wife reported him to the village headman after the two had an argument.
The headman informed the neighbourhood watch committee about the incident.
The committee recovered the snake which had been cut into pieces and stashed in one basket, with its skin was in another basket, after raiding the house.
When The Herald visited Dotito police station on Wednesday, the slices of the snake, which were decomposing, had been put in one of the rooms.
The suspect, Tineyi Mafiro of Kausiyo village under Chief Dotito, has gone into hiding.
Police said investigations into the incident were in progress.
Members of the neighbourhood watch committee tried to arrest him but he is said to have resisted by threatening them with an axe before he fled.
Some villagers in the area said the snake was well known in the area.
"Everyone in the village knew everything about the snake, especially the times that it moves around," one villager said.
- SAPA