Brilliant Mukaro

BIKITA – Residents of Kufakunesu village were left shocked and traumatised after a man from the neighbouring Mukomondero village under Chief Mkanganwi tragically died at a funeral of a person who had also died a sudden death.
Masvingo provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Charity Mazula confirmed the incident which happened on January 23.
The deceased, 23-year-old Thomas Chinomwe, was attending Jacob Morton’s funeral when he died.
What shocked many people however, is the fact that he passed away while mourning the death of another man who had also died in a car crash three days earlier.
Sources said Chinomwe joined other mourners who went to Gaha mountain to fetch fire wood for use at the funeral.
He reportedly climbed onto a tree to chop firewood but he suddenly started complaining that he was feeling dizzy and running out of breath.
Chinomwe is said to have passed out while still on the tree and subsequently fell on a rock, sustaining deep cuts and deformities on his head.
Insp Mazula advised people to desist from climbing on extreme heights.local

Clever Taperamoyo

MASVINGO – A man stands accused of killing his father-in-law who had chastised him for ill-treating his wife and failing to take good care of his family.
Police said the incident happened on January 28, 2017 when Perfect Chitsunge (29) of Mazarire village, Chief Nyajena, allegedly killed his father-in-law Marinda Mutubuki (76) of Plot 3 Greenhills, Chief Chikwanda.
The duo were coming back from Mazarire business centre where they had been drinking together.
On their way back to Mutubuki’s home, they had a misunderstanding after Mutubuki accused Chitsuge of not taking good care of his family and abusing his wife, Mutubuki’s daughter.
When they got home, Mutubuki told his wife that Chitsunge had hit him by a stone on the head.
Angered by the accusation, Chitsunge allegedly took a stick which he then used to attack his father-in-law once on the head, killing him instantly.
Provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Charity Mazula urged people to avoid settling disputes using violence especially when they are under the influence of alcohol.

Nyasha Marumbi

MASVINGO – A Zaoga Foward in Faith church elder from Pangolin on Monday pleaded with magistrate Peter Madiba to help her to pray for the weather to change from cloudy to sunny so that her freezits business could boom and enable her to raise money to pay her fine.
Jane Murumbi (49) of Number 2238/5 Shungu St, Pangolin, had been slapped with seven days in jail or US$30 fine for assaulting one Mildred Tigere (34).
The fine was broken down into US$20 for the offence and US$10 for wasting the court’s time denying the charge.
Murumbi, who is in the business of selling freezits, pleaded with the court to give her more time to find the money, saying she had already lost the day’s business since the weather was cloudy and, as a result, bad for her business.
“If you want me to get money to pay the fine by Friday, I plead with you to help me pray for a change in weather,” she pleaded, but the court would have none of it, ordering her to pay the fine by the given date, February 2, or face prison and risk her church position.
Edmond Mapope represented the State.local

Nyasha Marumbi

People in Ngundu were left shocked after a man revealed to the police that he had killed his eight-year-old son and buried him in a toilet pit, police in Masvingo have confirmed.
Sometime in April last year, Norman Mahachi (46) of village T1 Rugura, allegedly killed his son Norman Anyway Mahachi for failing to come back home on time when he visited his sister Mercy Mahachi’s place for the day.
Norman and his wife Ellen Nyavanhu, who is the deceased boy’s step mother, told the police that after dusk, with the young boy still at his sister’s place, they went to fetch him.
On their way home, Norman started beating Anyway with a Mupani stick all over his body, inflicting bad injuries on him.
The following morning, Nyavanhu left the house for Nyajena and asked Mercy to take care of Anyway for the day, thinking the boy was asleep.
When Norman woke up, he found the boy dead and he decided to bury him in a three-metre-deep toilet pit some few metres away from the homestead.
When Mercy came looking for Anyway, Norman lied to her saying the boy had visited their (Mercy and Anyway’s) biological mother Lorraine Mupause who stays in Chivhu.
Sometime in August, Mercy called Mupause asking if Anyway was fine and was told that he had never visited her.
Sometime in December 2017, Mupause went to Ngundu to find out what had happened to her son but her ex-husband told her many stories.
Mupause reported the case to the village head Amson Mabhusa who advised her to report the case to the police, which she did on January 23, leading to the suspect’s arrest.
Masvingo provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Charity Mazula advised parents to exercise restraint when disciplining their children, and not to try to run away from justice.local

ZAKA – A ruthless armed robber caused immense fright and grief in Jerera growth point on Monday when he pounced on prominent money changer, Farai Magara, whom he stabbed with a knife before fleeing with US$2 000 in cash.
The robbery happened at Magara’s place, Stand Number 561 Jerera, after the ruffian managed to gain entry into the house.
Masvingo provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Charity Mazula confirmed the incident, saying the robber easily entered the house because the doors were not locked.
 “We received a report of a man who was stabbed in the stomach by a robber who entered his house and left with two bags containing money. The victim chased after the robber and caught up with him, leading to a fight which ended with the victim getting stabbed,” said Insp Mazula.
She urged people not to keep large sums of money at home and also make sure that they lock their doors before going to sleep.
After the attack, Magara was rushed to Musiso Hospital and was later referred to United Bulawayo Hospital (UBH) but he died along the way.
Other people privy to the incident said around midnight on the day in question, Magara’s wife, Gracious Mhere, woke up to sounds of movements in the bedroom and saw a man leaving with two satchels containing the money.
One of the satchels reportedly contained $2 000 in clean US dollar bills while the other had $1 500 in bond notes, $470 in US dollar bills and R2 000.
After Magara chased the thief, his wife followed to find her husband lying in a pool of blood, with one of the satchel gone while the other lay close by.
No arrests had been made by the time of going to print.local

CHIREDZI – A man who smuggled 84 bales of clothes and eight bags of second-hand footwear from Mozambique and was riven six months of jail time commuted to 147 hours of community service, was last week sent back to custody after he wasted the court’s time trying to arguing for a fine.
Magistrate Geraldine Mutsoto found Munyaradzi Musvosvi (39) guilty of smuggling bales worth US$27 00 before pronouncing the sentence.
When Musvosvi was asked if he had anything to say, he made a request that he be given a fine instead of the community service sentence but failed to give convincing reasons why the court should accept that.
Magistrate Mutsotso said she found no reasonable grounds why Musvosvi should not perform the community service since he was fully able-bodied and had no recorded medical condition.
She then send Musvosvi back to remand prison from where he will come back to court on January 29 for finalisation of the case.
The court heard that on January 18, Musvove together with Philimon Mapako (37), Daniel Jiri (34) and Patrick Chigwedza (28) smuggled 84 bales of second hand clothes and eight bags of footwear from Mozambique via Chikombedzi.
They were later caught in Chikombedzi by intelligence operatives who handed them over to the police.
Musvovi’s three alleged accomplices were not in the court as they pleaded not guilty in their initial appearance and their case will be tried separately.
Innocent Tshuma prosecuted.local

GUTU – Vincent Madzanise, of Kuchinani village under Chief Chimombe, was recently caught sexually abusing a donkey, the police have said.
The donkey’s owner, Febias Mawoyo was shocked to find Madzanise molesting the donkey which was tied around a pole in the dead of the night.
The suspect fled upon noticing that he had been busted but a disgusted Mawoyo later made a report to the police.
Masvingo provincial acting police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa appealed to members of the public to avail any information that can lead to the arrest of the suspect.
“The suspect is on the run and we are looking for him. We plead with the community to report to the nearest police station if they get to see Madzanise or if they know where he is hiding,” said Ass Insp Dhewa.
He urged people not to trust any man with their animals as cases of bestiality were increasing.
Section 74 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act 9.23 criminalises bestiality, stating that a person would be liable to a maximum of one year in prison or a fine of up to level 14 if he/she is convicted of the offence.local