Bulawayo student accommodation death ruled as sudden death

Sunday News Reporters
THE police are treating the case of a former National University of Science Technology (Nust) student as a case of sudden death as foul play is not suspected.

The body of Absolom Junior Sakala aged 24 was discovered in a decomposing state last Thursday at the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe Student Accommodation Complex in Bulawayo.

Nust officials have since clarified that Sakala was no longer a student of the university as he failed his modules in 2023.

In an interview with Sunday News, Bulawayo police provincial spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed that they were treating the case as sudden death.

“I can confirm that as police we are treating the Bulawayo Student Accommodation case as a sudden death,” he said.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated case, the body of a man was found in a decomposing state yesterday in Four Winds.

The deceased, who residents identified as Camen Sibanda, had reportedly been last seen on Friday intoxicated.

The cause of death is still unclear with Hillside police officers, who attended the scene, speculating that the cause of death could have been that he fell into a Bulawayo City Council (BCC) manhole headlong, resulting in his death.

However, Insp Ncube said he was yet to receive a report on the matter.

In an interview with Sunday News, Four Winds neighbourhood watch vice-chairman, Mr Rayman Sibanda said the deceased was last seen on Friday at around 9pm after having some drinks with friends.

“Camen was seen yesterday (Friday) at around 9pm and he caused a bit of commotion where he was drinking because he was drunk.

“He then proceeded to a friend’s house in the suburb where he attempted to ask for a place to sleep because he is of no fixed abode. Seeing that he was drunk and causing commotion, his friend refused.

Camen reacted violently to this and forcibly took a few curtains and other unmentioned household items from the house,” said the neighbourhood watch vice-chairperson.

It is then alleged that in his drunken stupor, he left the house and went on to fall into the uncovered manhole.

Another resident said despite the initial indications that he fell headlong into the manhole, his identification card and other belongings were a short distance from where his body was found.