Upenyu Chaota
MASVINGO— A Fraud accused
23-year-old man from Nemanwa, who was arrested on August 15, committed suicide
while locked up in police cells at the rural section of Masvingo Central Police
Station.
Promise
Mberi was found dead in the early morning hours of August 16 after he was
locked up the previous day on charges of defrauding unsuspecting business
owners by purchasing goods through fraudulent EcoCash transactions.
Recently,
President Mnangagwa signed into law the Coroner’s Office Act after it
sailed through Parliament in which heads of hospitals, police stations and
prisons now face a five-year jail term if found guilty of destroying or
tampering with vital evidence on the death of a person under their custody
They
will also be criminally-liable for the death of a person under their custody
should it be established that they were reckless or negligent.
Mberi
is said to have used his trousers to hang himself on the cells’ burglar bars.
He was
buried on August 18 in Chikarudzo.
Surprisingly,
Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Chief Inspector Charity Mazula told
TellZim News she was not aware of the matter.
“We do
not have such a case here. I do not know where it is coming from,” said Mazula.
However,
sources told TellZim News that the
now deceased was picked up by detectives of the Criminal Investigation
Department (CID) and Police Internal Security and Investigation (PISI) at
Nemamwa after being busted for allegedly editing old EcoCash messages to make
new purchases.
Mberi’s
alleged accomplices Muchaneta Dengu and Monica Sariri were also picked up for
questioning but were later released after being ordered to return for further
question the following day.
When
Dengu returned the following day, August 16, she was told that Mberi had died.
Dengu
told TellZim News that police officers called to inform her that Mberi had
committed suicide by hanging using his trousers.
“It was
really shocking because he never showed any suicidal thought. I was in denial
so I asked to see for myself and I saw him hanging on the burglar bar window.
“I asked
the police for permission to take some pictures to show the people back home
and they allowed me. I then accompanied the body to the mortuary at Masvingo
Provincial Hospital,” said Dengu.
