Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
POLICE have arrested two men from Gwanda, including a cross-border transporter (malayitsha), in connection with the kidnapping and murder of a fellow villager during a wedding ceremony.
The victim, Prosper Gumbi, was abducted on December 30 in Mupaya Village under Chief Marupi.
The accused, Machaza Sibanda (43) and Cloud Mlauzi, have been charged with murder and appeared before Beitbridge resident magistrate Mr Takudzwa Gwazemba.
They were not asked to plead and remanded in custody until January 17. Their accomplices, Brilliant Moyo, Nhlanhla Sibanda, and Carrington Dube, are still at large.
According to the State, represented by Mr Ronald Mugwagwa, the five men attended a wedding at Godden Sibanda’s homestead in Mupaya Village.
Sibanda, who had a long-standing dispute with Gumbi, mobilised the others to confront him. The group then assaulted Gumbi and forced him into the boot of a white Toyota Fortuner belonging to Sibanda’s wife.
The accused drove approximately 3 kilometres along a dirt road before stopping in a bushy area where they took turns beating Gumbi with logs and sticks.
After the assault, they returned him to the car and drove to Sibanda’s shop, where they handcuffed him to an electricity pole.
Later that day, they untied Gumbi and drove away with him again. During the journey, they noticed his condition worsening and decided to take him to Manama Mission Hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The group allegedly lied to the hospital staff, claiming they found Gumbi unconscious by the roadside.
Following Gumbi’s death, Dube, Nhlanhla, and Moyo fled the scene.
The incident was reported to the police, who subsequently arrested Sibanda and Mlauzi.
Authorities recovered the Toyota Fortuner, which had blood stains in the boot, along with the handcuffs and a tooth belonging to Gumbi that fell out during the assault.
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