daniel chigunwe
Yeukai Karengezeka
Court Correspondent
A chill hung heavy in the air as a 20-year-old street man stepped into the Harare Magistrates Court for murder, his face a mask of defiance and desperation.
Known on the shadowy streets of the city as “Most Wanted,” Takudzwa Mombeshora stood accused of a crime that has shaken the community, a brutal murder that left an elderly man dead and a city questioning its humanity.
Before Magistrate Ms Appolonia Marutya, Mombeshora was told his fate was to be decided by the High Court, with bail hanging like a distant, unreachable promise.
His next court date was set for February 7, but the gravity of what he had allegedly done lingered like an unspoken sentence.
The prosecutor, Mr Rufaro Chonzi, recounted the grim details of that fateful night, January 15.
It was just past midnight, the city’s central business district (CBD) cloaked in its usual mix of silence and danger.
Jile Forbes, a 57-year-old man, left the lively buzz of Big Apple Sports Bar, his thoughts likely on the comforts of home in Dzivarasekwa.
But the streets had other plans for him. As he walked along Nelson Mandela Avenue, unaware of the predators lurking in the darkness, Mombeshora and his gang of street kids allegedly closed in like a pack of wolves.
They allegedly struck without warning. From behind, they allegedly grabbed Forbes’ sling bag and hurled him to the ground, his head slamming against the unforgiving tarmac.
The sound of his fall echoed briefly in the empty street, but there was no one to hear his cries.
As he lay there, stunned, vulnerable, the attackers rifled through his pockets, snatching a mere $10, an Itel 70 cellphone, and a few other possessions.
And then, like shadows, they disappeared into the night, leaving Forbes to bleed into the pavement, his life ebbing away.
Morning brought the grim discovery.
Another street kid stumbled upon Forbes’ lifeless body and alerted the authorities.
The scene painted a picture of cruelty. A man robbed not just of his belongings, but of his future.
A post-mortem at Parirenyatwa Hospital confirmed the worst, a subdural hematoma caused by the blunt trauma to his head.
Forbes had been killed not just by the fall, but by the indifference of those who left him to die.
For days, Mombeshora allegedly vanished into the city’s labyrinth of alleys and hideouts, his freedom bought with violence and fear.
But whispers travel fast on the streets. On January 21, the police received a tip-off, a thread that led them to Copacabana.
There, amidst the chaos of vendors and commuters, they spotted him. He saw them too.
In a moment of raw desperation, he lashed out, fighting like a cornered animal. He bit one of the detectives in a futile bid to escape, but it was over.
Subdued and shackled, he was dragged into custody, his reign of terror finally meeting a wall of justice.
Now, he stands in court, a young man whose life has been shaped by the harshness of the streets, facing the consequences of a crime that left a family grieving and a city reeling.
