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Marvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
A GWANDA policeman drowned under mysterious circumstances while bathing in Mtshabezi River and his body was retrieved 12 hours later with a tablet of soap in one hand and a towel in the other.
Constable Marshal Gwanzura was in the company of his friend, a fellow officer identified only as Constable Chishuwo. The incident happened at around 6PM on Wednesday but the body was retrieved around 7AM yesterday. It is said that only human waste, probably his, could be seen floating on the water.
Gwanda residents, including the two police officers, were forced to go and bath in the river because of serious water problems facing the town.
Sources said the two police officers were bathing in Mtshabezi River together with several other males whom they found already there.
“When they (Gwanzura and his friend) arrived at the river, there were some boys who were bathing but Gwanzura chased them away saying that they should pave way for adults.
“They started bathing and were taking each other some photos with their cellphones and they seemed happy,” said a source.
It is said that prior to the incident, Gwanzura had been drinking beer but it could not be immediately established whether he was drunk or not.
“While still bathing, Gwanzura dived into the water and everyone thought he had decided to join a group that was swimming. We were alarmed by his strange up and down movements while in the water. We sensed that something had gone wrong. It was as if something was throwing him up and down. When people finally concluded that something was amiss and decided to rescue him, it was late because he could no longer be traced,” said another source.
The matter was reported to the police who attended the scene.
Police tried searching for Gwanzura’s body the whole night but were not successful until yesterday morning.
“We spent the night here at the scene with some of Gwanzura’s relatives, hoping to retrieve the body before morning but that did not happen. We checked several times at night but his body was nowhere to be seen,” said a police source.
When Chronicle arrived at the scene yesterday morning, Gwanzura’s body had already been retrieved.
“We removed the body using a rope because the sub aqua team had not yet arrived. When we retrieved the body, he was still holding soap in one hand and a bathing towel in the other,” said the police source.
The body was taken to a local mortuary.
Matabeleland South Provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Philisani Ndebele, confirmed the drowning. He said investigations on the matter were underway.
Mtshabezi River has claimed many lives, most of them mysteriously.
Online Reporter