A 26-year-old Sizinda man in Bulawayo was forced out of bed by a friend, only to meet his death moments later at a nearby nightclub on Friday night.
The deceased, identified as Mthokozisi Ndlovu, had already retired to bed and had managed to ward off manoeuvres from a friend to go drinking. But when his friend, identified as Terrence came for the second time, he could not resist the temptation.
“He was a young man with a future, he was taken by a friend called Terrence from home and we understand he was already sleeping when this friend came for him. I wonder how much alcohol they drank from that period he left home till he was killed and where this friend was when this attack took place,” said his uncle, Mr Jeff Phiri.
Another relative confirmed that the deceased had retired to bed when his friend came to fetch him.
“We were informed that this friend came initially and Mthokozisi refused to go with him, and he left. He then returned for the second time and convinced him to leave the house and they left together. We are suspicious because it seems like there was an agenda, someone wanted to hurt him so they made sure he left the house. Maybe this friend knows what was supposed to happen. We are not sure,” said Mr Griffiths Ndiweni.
Sources said Ndlovu was allegedly stabbed in the chest by an unknown assailant outside a nightclub in the suburb when police officers were dispersing revellers in the club as it was past its closing time. The deceased, a father of one, is said to have returned from South Africa just over a year ago where he had been resident.
Speaking to Sunday News, his grief stricken uncle, Mr Phiri, said he was informed about the death just before midnight.
“I was woken up just before midnight by our neighbour. The father of the boy is not here, he is in Victoria Falls and his mother stays in Tshabalala. I was told Mthokozisi was stabbed at the shops, and I found his body covered in a red blanket waiting to be collected by the police. We asked who had stabbed him and I was told it was a man they did not know, but he left his sandals at the crime scene. He also left behind a cloth that was then taken by another man who was arrested by the police and is assisting with investigations,” he said.
Mr Phiri said they were still trying to make sense of what actually happened.
“When he was stabbed, the police were in the vicinity, he was stabbed while they were inside trying to get the club to close as it was supposed to close at 10pm and it was already past its closing time. We hear the police could not get out of the club as it was full and the revellers were resisting that it be closed,” said a distraught Mr Phiri.
He described the wound inflicted on the deceased. “We cannot say a knife was used to stab him, no, he had a huge hole in his left breast, and the attacker must have used a thick but sharp iron bar to stab him. The blood that came out was very little, all the blood filled up in his stomach, we found his stomach very enlarged,” he said.
Police however, could not immediately comment on the matter. SundayNews.
