A prankster was charged by a Zimbabwean court for claiming that he was part of a gang that buying human toes for up to $78,000.
Claims that hard-pressed Zimbabweans had resorted to selling their toes for survival went viral on social media a fortnight ago and a top government official slammed the jokes as an attempt to harm the country’s image.
In a video, David Kaseke, a 40-year-old Harare mobile phone vendor, claimed to be part of a network that buying human toes for between $26,000 and $78,000.
Kaseke on Tuesday appeared before Harare magistrate Meenal Narotam and was charged with criminal nuisance.
Prosecutors said that on May 27 at around 4pm, the man was approached by a popular tabloid at his workplace in central Harare and told the journalists that he was part of the syndicate that was buying human toes for ritual purposes.
Kaseke claimed the small toe would fetch between $25,000 and $30,000 while the big toe was going for $75 000.
The video recorded by the tabloid went viral on social media and when Kaseke was arrested he said he had made the joke while intoxicated.
Prosecutors said his joke “materially interfered with the comfort, convenience [and] peace of the public as he had wantonly and mischievously raised [a] false alarm to the public”.
The magistrate is yet to hand down a ruling on the matter.
