Life sentence for stoning wife to death

Ray Bande, Senior Reporter

A Marange man was sentenced to life imprisonment after he stoned his wife to death in Murwira Village on April 13 last year.

Sonile Chatizwa (22) had left her matrimonial home as she accused Kudakwashe Kiven Chitsiku (37) of having an affair and abusing her.

Chitsiku was last week slapped with the sentence by Mutare High Court judge, Justice Isaac Muzenda.

In delivering the judgment, Justice Muzenda noted the brutal and gruesome nature of the attack.

A certificate of weight compiled by the police indicated that the three stones Chitsiku used to attack his wife, two of them with sharp edges, weighed 5.3kg, 3.9kg, 3.7kg respectively.

He also used a brick weighing 4.25kg.

Chitsiku stoned his wife to death at her uncle’s home in Marange.

Chatizwa had packed her bags and sought refuge at her uncle’s homestead, about 4km away from her matrimonial home.

Before tragedy struck, the now deceased revealed that she had endured extreme abuse at the hands of her cheating husband.

During the course of the trial, which was led by Principal Law Officer, Mr Malvern Musarurwa, Mr Mwaionei Dhaure, Chitsiku’s uncle, told the court that on April 13, 2023, he saw Chitsiku and his wife quarrelling at Ms Virginia Dhaure’s homestead.

However, he did not hear what they were quarrelling about.

The court heard that the two used to quarrel a lot, accusing each other of infidelity.

“I was passing by about 50 meters from where the accused person and the now deceased were quarrelling. I heard the now deceased calling, asking Chitsiku to stop.

“I saw the now deceased running towards me carrying her one-year, three-months-old-baby on her back with the accused person in hot pursuit, holding a brick.

“The deceased tried to explain to me that her husband wanted to kill her despite the fact that their dispute had been solved at Chief Marange’s court.

“Before she could finish narrating what was happening, Chitsiku arrived holding the brick. Chatizwa tried to hide behind my back, but she was struck on the head with the brick.

“She fell on the ground and became unconscious. I tried to restrain Chitsiku, but I was overpowered. He snatched Chatizwa’s baby from her back. Chitsiku took a large stone and crushed Chatizwa’s head.

“She died on the spot. I alerted other villagers and reported the matter at Odzi Police Station,” Mr Dhaure told the court.

Another witness, Mr Teramai Chitima of the same village told the court that he was called by Mr Dhaure to help restrain Chitsiku, but from a distance, he saw Chitsiku crushing Chatizwa’s head with a boulder he was holding with both hands.

Chitima told the court that soon after committing the crime, Chitsiku grabbed a rope and fled into the bush.

After the attack, Chatizwa was left with a deep cut on the back of her head as well as a similar injury on the forehead.

The post-mortem report compiled stated that Chatizwa succumbed to injuries sustained during the gruesome attack.