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Mashudu Mambo
A 30-YEAR-OLD man from Sibhula village, Gwanda in Matabeleland South province has been slapped with an effective 20-year jail sentence after he assaulted and strangled his wife to death over a dispute.
Bambanani Ndlovu appeared before Bulawayo High Court Judge, Justice Evangelista Kabasa facing a charge of murder. He pleaded not guilty to the charge but was convicted after trial and sentenced.
The court heard that on 20 August 2023 at around 11pm, Ndlovu arrived home and found his wife, the now deceased, lying on the bed with their two children who were aged two and five years old.
A misunderstanding arose on why he arrived home late and this angered Ndlovu who then assaulted his wife with booted feet and a knobkerrie on her knees before strangling her to death. After committing the offence, Ndlovu fled and went to Bulawayo. On 30 August 2023, police received information on his whereabouts and he was arrested.
During trial, Monica Ndlovu, the culprit’s mother, told the court that Ndlovu requested her to come to his house for an emergency after his wife had died.
“On 21 August 2023 at around 5pm, l heard my son calling me while he was at his homestead ,which is 100 metres away from my home insisting that l come over. When l arrived, Ndlovu remained silent for a while and l enquired on why he had called me and on the whereabouts of his wife.
“I proceeded to their bedroom and when l got there l saw my daughter-in-law’s lifeless body on the ground,” she said.
She then left the house crying, shouting for help and her husband Thabani Ndlovu and neighbours came to the homestead.
When questioned on how the deceased had died, the culprit lied and stated that he had last seen his wife in the morning when she left home to see a prophet as she was suffering from stomach pains.
derick.khumalo