BULAWAYO police have quizzed 20 students from the girls-only Eveline High School over allegations of lesbianism, school authorities confirmed.
The 20, all believed to be players in a local football team, were quizzed individually by detectives last week after another student allegedly blew the whistle on her teammates.
Zimbabwean law makes it a criminal offence to engage in homosexual activity.
Eveline headmistress Rosemary Moyo said Tuesday: “I can confirm 20 of our girls have been questioned by police in relation to allegations of engaging in lesbian activity. At this time we have no further update.”
Bulawayo’s top education official Dan Moyo said homosexual practises in schools were “deplorable and unacceptable”.
He said: “We are not sure if the accusations are true. If they are, I am shocked. I do not expect such behaviour. It is unacceptable.”
Theresa Ndlovu, president of the Carlton Football Club, said she had received over a dozen calls from parents wanting to pull their children from the team.
“I’m deeply disappointed with these developments. Our vision has always been to empower girls through soccer,” she said.
The local Chronicle newspaper reports that the scandal blew up on July 17 when the team travelled to play in a tournament in the Nswazi area of Umzingwane district, Matabeleland South.
“While there, one of the girls accused other team members of being lesbians. School authorities questioned her and asked her to write a statement and she did so, pairing the names,” the paper reported.
Police spokesman Assistant Inspector Bhekimpilo Ndlovu said: “The matter is very delicate and cannot be discussed at the moment because that might jeopardise our investigations.”
Proven or otherwise, the claims are sure to ignite a new debate on the purpose of same-sex boarding schools believed to fuel homosexual experiments.