Cephas Shava
MWENEZI – A 27-year-old mentally-challenged man who sometime back reportedly dug-up the grave of his late mother, recently stole a gun at his father’s work place and fled, the Mwenezi Magistrates’ Court heard last week.
Appearing before magistrate Honest Musiiwa, Jairos Mazana (53) and his mentally challenged son, Leonard Mazana (27) were facing charges of stealing a gun.
The two co-accused were not formally charged and Jairos was remanded out of custody while Leonard was remanded in custody after the State recommended that he undergoes a psychiatric examination.
Giving his side of the story in court, Jairos said he did not know where his son hid the gun after he stole it at his work place.
“My son is mentally-challenged and it started sometime back upon his return from South Africa. He came and dug up his mother’s grave and took part of the cloth that was covering the coffin.
“When he stole the rifle, I ran after him but I did not manage to disarm him. I do not know where exactly he put the gun but it seems he threw it away as I chased him,” said Jairos.
Presented by prosecutor Willard Chasi, State facts are that on January 30 this year, Leonard went to his father Jairos’ workplace at Samina Estates where he is employed as a general hand.
He broke the window to the farm house office and stole a 2.2 rifle belonging to Samina Estates and fled towards Mwenezi River.
After noticing that his son was holding a firearm, Jairos ran after him but was outpaced and he gave up.
When Leonard was later arrested by the police, he implicated his father. He insisted that when he was being chased away, the rifle dropped and Jairos picked it and hid it at unknown place.
This led to the arrest of Jairos. The stolen rifle was not recovered and the matter was postponed to a later date for trial.local
