Online Reporter
Mthokozisi Ncube
A BULAWAYO woman was seriously injured when she jumped off a speeding truck to escape from a Malawian truck driver who had allegedly kidnapped her.
The trucker ran over the woman and did not stop, on the outskirts of Bulawayo, along The Gweru-Bulawayo Highway.
Steven Symon M’gambo (46) was arrested for kidnapping at the Plumtree Tollgate after driving through Bulawayo, as he continued with his journey as if nothing had happened.
Good Samaritans assisted the woman.
The incident occurred on Friday, September 11, as the woman was travelling from Gweru to Shangani aboard the truck.
Bulawayo deputy police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Thandekile Ndlovu said the woman had called her relative at about 8pm and told him that she had boarded M’gambo’s truck from Gweru to Shangani.
When they reached Shangani, M’gambo refused to drop her off.
The woman called her relative again, informing him that the driver was speeding towards Bulawayo and had refused to let her off.
Assistant Inspector Ndlovu said M’gambo overheard the conversation and grabbed the woman’s cellphone, which he threw out of the window.
He continued speeding towards Bulawayo.
“The complainant, realising that the accused had no intention to drop her, she then jumped off while the truck was moving resulting in her falling on the tarmac,” said Asst Insp Ndlovu.
The incident took a more serious turn when M’gambo failed to stop and the truck ran over the woman, causing serious injuries to her legs.
M’gambo arrived in Bulawayo at about 9pm.
The injured woman was assisted and a report was made to the police, leading to the arrest of M’gambo at the Plumtree tollgate.
The circumstances surrounding why the driver refused to release the woman at Shangani were not immediately clear.
Asst Insp Ndlovu warned commuters against boarding unregistered vehicles.
“We urge commuters to board only registered public service vehicles and desist from boarding unregistered vehicles as this puts them at risk of being robbed, raped or even killed,” she said.
M’gambo remains an accused person and has not been convicted of the alleged offence.
derick.khumalo