Sandati, 39, fled to Harare and reported the incidents to MDC headquarters. Despite the danger, he says he plans to return home.
"I can't go there safely," he said. "Now I am very afraid. If I go there, my life is in danger. They want to eliminate some of us.
"But if I am absent it means there will be more and more threats to our followers. If they don't see us, the MDC is dead there. They're trying to kill our following."
Maponda said he doubted people would turn out to vote for the opposition in a runoff.
"Now people are afraid. If the runoff happens, everyone is going to vote for the party they do not like," he said.
In Landas, also in Mashonaland East, dozens of ZANU-PF youths have been parading in the streets, singing songs and beating street traders.
"All the people fear those guys. Some people run away because they know they can be beaten up," said local MDC activist Itai Bindu, 28.
He said the gangs were conducting door-to-door raids at night, dragging opposition activists from their houses and beating them. About 20 people had been beaten since the elections, he said.
Many activists think the chances of winning a runoff would be slim after several more weeks or months of terror.
But Bindu believes many people are so sick of the Mugabe regime that they won't desert the opposition even in the face of violence.
"It's hardening MDC supporters. People are tired of this ZANU-PF. People are saying, 'We can't change the results, we're now MDC people.' "
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robyn.dixon@latimes.com
