Princess Masiiwa
A suspected mentally ill man from Chiitani village under Chief Mupapa in Chiredzi allegedly murdered his disabled sister for refusing to give him a third serving of food.
The incident took place on January 2, 2022 at around 0130 hours when Jonathan Chiitani (27) came home drunk and woke up his sister Esnat Chiitani (35) who was sleeping in the same house with their mother Maria Chekani (50) to serve him food.
Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said they encourage people living with mentally-challenged relatives to always make sure they do not default on their medications.
“We encourage members of the public that if they have relatives who are suffering from mental challenges not to stop taking their medications,” said Dhewa.
Circumstances are that Esnat complied with Jonathan’s order to be served food, but Jonathan kept on demanding for more after which she served her for the second time.
Jonathan demanded a third serving to which Esnat refused to serve him irking the former who then started shouting before their mother woke up, intervening by taking him to his room.
After their mother left, Jonathan followed Esnat demanding more food and he took a Mopani stick from the granary threatening to beat his sister.
Sensing danger, Maria then instructed Esnat to crawl away from Jonathan.
The accused started beating his sister on the face several times with the stick. Maria then ran to their uncle Jephat Chiitani (50) but when she came back with Jephat and nine other neighbors, she found Esnat bleeding profusely, lying unconsciously on the floor with multiple cuts on the head and they reported the matter to Chikombedzi police station.
Reports were also that sometime in 2013 Jonathan Chiitani reportedly went to South Africa to look for a job but later in 2014 came back home mentally sick.
Maria sought treatment for him from traditional healers and his condition had improved when the unfortunate incident occurred.
