Chronicle Editor
Fairness Moyana in Hwange
A MAN from Lupane district who brutally knifed his parents to death has been ordered to undergo another psychiatric evaluation.
Clever Ngwenya (34) of Gwalubha Village reportedly went berserk and attacked his elderly parents, Simon Tshumaka (73) and Mildress Ngwenya (71), stabbing them multiple times with a knife.
Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice Christopher Dube-Banda, who is on a circuit in Hwange, queried Ngwenya’s mental state when he committed the heinous act.
He ordered Ngwenya to undergo a third mental evaluation.
“This court has been informed that the accused was examined by two doctors before the commencement of trial. The doctors think that he is fit to stand trial and that nothing is indicating that he had a mental disorder or default of the mind,” said Justice Dube-Banda.
“Notwithstanding these findings by the two doctors, we believe that more needs to be done. It is the obligation of the court to ensure that the accused appearing before it was of sound mind at the time of the offence.
“It is the psychiatrist who will determine the accused’s state of mind at the time the offence was allegedly committed,” he said.
Prosecutor Ms Memory Munsaka said on September 21 last year at around 9am, Ngwenya met his brother Khululani in a bushy area where he was tracking suspected solar panel thieves.
Ngwenya then asked his brother to accompany him to their parents’ homestead on the pretext that he wanted to discuss a pertinent family issue.
“During the discussion, the accused produced a knife and indiscriminately stabbed his mother several times all over the body before turning to his father and both parents died on the spot,” said Ms Munsaka,
His siblings, Khululani and Fidelis fled to a neighbour’s homestead before returning in the company of other villagers. They failed to apprehend him as he went berserk brandishing the blood-stained knife.
A report was made to the police leading to his arrest in Plumtree while attempting to flee to Botswana.
In his defence outline, through his lawyer Mrs Linda Mthombeni of Dube, Nkala and Company, Ngwenya offered a limited plea of culpable homicide, arguing that he was insane when he committed the offence.
“I was working in Botswana before being called back by my brother Khululani Ngwenya and my father sometime in July last year. The reason I was told to return was that there needed to be a cleansing as evil spirits were shadowing our family,” he said.
Ngwenya said upon his return to Zimbabwe, his father refused to go ahead with the spiritual cleansing claiming that he’d had enough with prophets and traditional healers.
“From the time I came back home until September 22 last year, I stayed peacefully and happily with my parents at their homestead. I sustained myself by doing carpentry with my brother,” said Ngwenya.
He claimed that he was suddenly overcome by an unknown force which caused him to have a thirst to kill.
“Although I was conscious of my actions, I couldn’t control them,” said Ngwenya.
He said he never intended to kill his parents in cold blood.
Online Reporter