A tragic incident in Masvingo has left a community reeling after a 42-year-old man, Maxwell Manjonjo, died following a brutal assault.
The alleged cause? The theft of a pot containing sadza and chicken. Police confirmed the incident, which occurred on Saturday at Village Midzi, leading to the arrest of 41-year-old Makneme Chikutuva as a suspect in the murder.
According to a police statement on their official X handle, “The suspect allegedly assaulted the victim with ox yoke leather straps indiscriminately all over the body after accusing him of stealing a pot which contained sadza and chicken.”
The severity of the beating was such that, “On seeing that the victim was having difficulties with breathing, the suspect carried Maxwell Manjonjo to Musingarahwi Business Centre, Masvingo and dumped him.” The injuries sustained proved fatal for Manjonjo.
Police investigations are ongoing, and authorities are also appealing for information regarding another individual, Takunda Gwitira, who is also wanted in connection with the case. The nature of Gwitira’s involvement remains undisclosed in the initial police report.
This tragic event is one of several recent cases of violence reported across the country. In a separate incident in Chipinge, a 29-year-old man, Felix Maphosa, appeared in court on Thursday charged with the murder of his 47-year-old wife.
The alleged motive stemmed from a domestic dispute concerning birth control pills. The court heard that Maphosa confronted his wife about her use of the pills without his knowledge, escalating the argument to a violent confrontation.
“It is alleged that the accused confronted his wife on why she was taking birth control pills without his knowledge,” the court heard.
The violence escalated, with Maphosa allegedly striking his wife three times on the head with an iron bar before further assaulting her by hammering a nail into her chest. He then left her for dead, spending the night at a local beerhall before his arrest. He remains in custody awaiting trial.
Meanwhile, in Harare, a teenager from Budiriro appeared before the Harare Magistrates Courts on charges of murder. Witmore Nyamadzawo, along with two suspected accomplices, Prosper Chiyaka and Mike Kholowa, allegedly assaulted the victim on January 13, 2022, at a Budiriro shopping centre.
The court heard that the trio used a metal chain, striking the victim on the head and repeatedly beating him across the body.
“The trio allegedly assaulted the now-deceased using a metal chain on the left side of the head and several times all over the body,” the court record states.
The victim sustained severe head injuries, bruises on his shoulders and legs, and ultimately died at the scene. Nyamadzawo was remanded in custody until January 23 for a routine remand, with Magistrate Sheunesu Matova advising him to apply to the High Court for bail.
In a stark contrast to these violent crimes, a Dzivaresekwa man, Moses Jimu, received a 15-year jail sentence for the rape of his neighbour’s eight-year-old daughter. Jimu pleaded not guilty, but Magistrate Loice Mukunyadze found the evidence against him overwhelming.
Prosecutor Shambadzeni Fungura detailed how the minor was lured away from a borehole while in the company of her niece, dragged into Jimu’s house, and sexually assaulted.
“Sometime in October last year, the minor went to the borehole in the company of her niece. Jimu called the minor and dragged her into his house, where he sexually assaulted her by fondling her private parts before raping her,” Fungura recounted. The child’s account to her niece led to Jimu’s arrest and subsequent conviction.
