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Leonard Ncube Senior Court Reporter
THE alleged killer cops who ruthlessly assaulted five suspects with a fan belt and baton leading to the death of one of the suspects will have to wait a bit longer before they know their fate.
Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Maxwell Takuva last week postponed the case sine die as the court wants to lead evidence from a Cuba-based pathologist who examined Samson Ncube’s body and discovered deposits of diesel in his stomach.
Ncube’s three friends Thembinkosi Shoko, Gift Nyoni and Malvern Van Heerden told how they were slapped, whipped with a fan belt and baton while balancing bicycles and being made to jog on stones in bare feet.
The three survivors narrated the horror attacks, telling the court, Sergeants Proud Moyo and Mavis Mutema made them balance bicycles on their heads during the assault that led to the death of their friend in 2011. The bicycle was not supposed to fall, as the victims would be subjected to more torture if it did, the court heard.
Moyo, 28, and Mutema, 26, deny killing Ncube, 20, who had complained of severe pain on his release from police custody and was later found lying dead in his parents’ garden on March 10 the same year.
The four, together with Sikhumbuzo Magagula who didn’t testify as he could not be located, had been arrested for stoning a car belonging to Norman Saungweme.
Shoko, Nyoni and Van Heerden concurred on the alleged assault and that they left Ncube in the cells when they were released.
Ncube’s family saw black marks under his feet, on the wrists and arms, between thighs and knees, a scar on the back of the head and signs of burns believed to have been caused by electric shocks.
There are suspicions the police also forced him to drink diesel.
“We left him in the cells on Monday and saw him in court the following day. We were forced to lie on our stomachs with the bicycle on the head. I suffered some injuries on the buttocks, arms and under feet,” said Shoko.
The victims said the cops took turns to assault them for a long time but didn’t seek medical attention or report the assault.
Said Nyoni: “When they picked us, they told us we were only going to the station as witnesses and we were surprised when they started beating us. They knew who had stoned the car but kept beating us all and Mutema was saying ‘panofa munhu. Ndini ndinotonga pano’ (I will kill you. I am the boss here). We didn’t report because we didn’t know that cops can be arrested because they always beat people.”
The defence team of Nozabelo Ndlovu and Jonathan Tsvangirai had inquired why the issue of assault was raised after the death of Ncube.
Nyoni said other suspects in the cells also mentioned Moyo’s name saying he was notorious for assaulting suspects.
Van Heerden added that the cops also made them slap each other. He said they were subjected to numerous other brutal attacks, some of which he couldn’t remember at the hands of the cops. The witness’s also alleged police denied them food.
Justice Takuva quizzed Biggy Ncube, who was officer-in-charge of Sauerstown Police Station in 2011 but he appeared un-informed about the events surrounding the case. The judge wanted to know why five suspects were detained when it was known that only one had committed the crime and why Ncube was detained for four days for a petty case.
The judge said the witnesses had given a picture of cops assaulting suspects in full view of their colleagues and reminded him that it was unlawful for cops to assault suspects. Ncube said police were not authorised to release suspects before going to court.
Prosecutors say the five men’s parents approached Saungweme and begged him to withdraw charges to save them from police brutality. He agreed.
A postmortem report from the United Bulawayo Hospitals showed that Ncube had died from intracranial haemorrhage, head injury and assault.
Online Reporter