No Lockdown for Zaka bars

The late Cyril Chitumba

…as man gets murdered at drinking joint 

Brighton Chiseva

ZAKA – Despite the country
being under a level 4 Covid-19 national lockdown which among other things, puts
in place a dusk to dawn curfew and prohibits bars from operating, bar owners
keep flaunting the regulations with one incident turning tragic when a reveler
was gruesomely murdered at Simbamukaka bar in Jerera yesterday.

A
25-year-old Cyril Chitumba was beaten to death at the illegally operating bar
in the early morning hours of February 2, 2021 over a missing Samsung Galaxy
A30 smartphone.

Chitumba
was allegedly assaulted by Gladman Marufu from Chinoda village under chief
Nhema and Kudzai Siyawareva who were accusing him of stealing a cellphone belonging
to latter.

The
deceased is alleged to have been drinking with colleagues at the bottle store where
they were being served liquor through the windows and the back doors.

Masvingo
provincial police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhehwa confirmed the
incident saying people should observe curfew regulations and bars should remain
closed.

“The
police are investigating a murder case which happened at Jerera Growth Point
yesterday.

“The
murder happened way after curfew hours at a bar which should have never opened
under the current lockdown level,” said Dhehwa.

Sources
say that Chitumba breathed his last at around 0300 hours and the police, who
were not at base when people sought help, came at around 0600 hours and
attended the scene.

 “They accused him of stealing a cell phone.
They assaulted him using bricks all over his body and later stabbed him with an
unidentified sharp object. He sustained bodily injuries and a serious wound
near one of his eyes,” said one source.

Onlookers
who included sex workers alerted the deceased’s brother and his mother, who is
a police constabulary based in Jerera, who rushed to the scene.

“His
mother arrived at the scene and tried to intervene but was booted and assaulted
before she rushed to the police base housed at Jerera Community Hall but could
not find any officer,” said another source.

The
deceased’s mother is said to have pleaded with the accused persons to stop but
they demanded cash, a cow and later demanded a car which they were offered by
the bar owner but they turned down saying they wanted to kill him.

“The
deceased’s mother asked them to leave him and offered them money but they
refused saying they wanted a cow. She called other relatives whom she wanted to
bring the cow but they said they now wanted a car.

“The
bar owner Takunda Mupindu offered them his car keys but they turned down the
offer saying they wanted him dead,” said the source.

People
lamented the limited number of police presence in the growth point and said two
officers who are usually posted on night duty at the base barely spend the
night there making it hard for locals to report during the night.

The
accused persons have since been arrested and await to appear in court tomorrow,
February 4.