Police in Zimbabwe have freed 251 children from a sect which allegedly exploited them as cheap labour.
A court on Thursday ordered the remand into custody of eight men who describe themselves as prophets. They are accused of violating child protection laws.
The police in the southern African country searched the premises of the sect's shrine on Wednesday. The officers discovered 16 unregistered graves containing the remains of infants.
The 251 children found on the site had no birth certificates and had not been registered in schools, a police spokesman said on Thursday. The children are now being medically examined, he said.
The investigation was triggered by a post on social media by one of the men who has now been arrested.
In it, he wrote that children should not be given a formal education as this would lead to the rains stopping.
