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Whinsley Masara, @winnie_masara
A-27-YEAR-OLD man from Tsholotsho allegedly killed his brother in a fight over a dog.
Menias Moyo (27) of Mahlathini Line struck his elder brother Onias Moyo (32) of Mahlaba Line, thrice on the head resulting in his death.
Both men live in Sipepa Area, under chief Mathuphula in Tsholotsho.
The incident occurred on Sunday at around 6 PM and he was declared dead upon arrival at Sipepa Clinic, about six hours later.
Menias told family members that he struck his brother with a log in self defence.
He insisted his brother intended to assault him with a knobkerrie and the same log that he had in-turn used to hit him.
A neighbour, Mr Rombus Ncube (34) said Menias’s dog always went to his brother’s home and he would later return home without a problem.
“When Menias came to pick up his dog as usual, he found Onias bathing. He took his took and passed by my home informing me that he had collected the dog. He actually asked me to inform his brother that he had taken the dog and gone back to his place.
“Onias didn’t take that too well. He claimed his brother had disrespected him by taking the dog without personally notifying him. He quickly dashed to his home and came out with a knobkerrie claiming that he was going to discipline the young man,” he said.
Mr Ncube said he doesn’t know what happened at Menias’s home because they fought alone, and Menias informed his father after Onias fell unconscious.
“Menias said Onias came charging towards him armed with a Knobkerrie, in a bid to smash him to death. He tried to hit him with it but he blocked him, managed to grab the weapon and threw it away.
“He sprung off my hands and pulled out a dropper which was on my boundary fence. Again he tried hard to hit me with the log but I grabbed it and this time hit him back with the log,” he said.
Area village head Mrs Fildah Sibanda said Menias struck his brother three times in the head resulting in him falling to the ground, unconscious.
“It is unfortunate we are hearing a one sided story from the younger brother who said he hit back in self defence. He became unconscious and fell to the ground. On seeing this, Menias rushed to his father, Solomon Moyo’s home, where he called him and other villagers.
“Solomon alerted another village head, Reuben Madiba who, using his scotch cart, helped to rush Onias to Sipepa Clinic where he died upon admission,” she said.
Mrs Sibanda urged villagers to learn to resolve matters through talking.
“Looking closely at the matter, there should be more beef behind the fierce fight because surely, two old men can’t fight over collection of a dog. There should be more grudges behind all this, which led to the fight,” said the village head.
Online Reporter