Chronicle Editor
Midlands Bureau
A 29-year-old man from Lalapanzi in the Midlands province has been sentenced to four years in jail for the brutal murder of his 90-year-old grandmother.
Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Bongani Ndlovu, sitting on circuit in Gweru, convicted Tarisai Chivaza of Shindi Homestead, Kudzanai Farm, Lalapanzi of culpable homicide for causing the death of his grandmother Petronella Chivaza on June 28, 2022.
Tarisai indiscriminately assaulted his grandmother who was sitting by the fireplace in their kitchen with a log and left her for dead.He was initially charged with murder, but pleaded to a lesser charge of culpable homicide and was convicted according to his plea.
Justice Ndlovu sentenced Tarisai to four years in prison before suspending three years on condition of good behaviour. Tarisai is going to serve one year in prison.
In his mitigation through his lawyer Mr Esau Mandipa of Mutatu and Mandipa Legal Practice, Tarisai presented that he served nearly two years in custody pending trial.He also said he tendered a guilty plea and didn’t waste the court’s time and is contrite for having caused his maternal grandmother’s death.
For the State, Mr Michael Mhene, said on June 28, 2022, at around 6am at Shindi Homestead Wadzanayi Farm, Lalapanzi, the accused and his grandmother were in a kitchen hut when she requested the accused to light a fire to warm herself.
Mr Mhene said Tarisai went outside the hut to collect firewood and brought with him three logs.“Accused dropped two logs and remained with one log. The accused hit the deceased on the shoulder, upper left cheek, both hands and on the head several times using a log,” he said.
“The deceased collapsed on the ground and the accused person fled the scene leaving the deceased lying on the ground.”At around 7am, Mr Mhene said Ethel Musavengana found the woman lying on the ground bleeding from the head and told her that the accused had assaulted her.
“With the assistance of Alois Shindi and Ethel Musavaengana, they ferried the deceased to Lalapanzi Clinic where she was transferred to Gweru Provincial Hospital,” he said.
Mr Mhene said the following day, the woman died while admitted to Gweru Provincial Hospital.“The body of the deceased was ferried to the United Bulawayo Hospitals where a full post-mortem examination was carried out. A report was made to the police leading to the arrest of Tarisai,” he said.
Online Reporter