Online Reporter
Patrick Chitumba [email protected]
A BULAWAYO High Court judge has thrown a violent machete-wielding killer behind bars for 50 years after he went on a drunken rampage, hacking two women outside Mzansi Nite Club in Shurugwi, leaving one dead and the other battling for her life.
Justice Munamato Mutevedzi, sitting at the Gweru High Court circuit, convicted Benjamin Chipapata (26) of murder and attempted murder, slamming his actions as a vile display of hatred for women.
“The people who declare hatred for women should be removed from society,” Justice Mutevedzi said as he delivered the sentence.
Chipapata, of Ngazimbi Village, Chief Ngezi, Chegutu, had pleaded not guilty to killing Judith Ruzive (40) and trying to kill Chido Mkandla (25) on the night of 8 March, 2019, but was found guilty after a full trial.
Prosecutor Mr Talent Tadenyika told the court that Chipapata had a fight with two unidentified men outside the nightclub. After the men fled, he stormed back wielding a machete, declaring that “no woman should be near the club.”
Like a man possessed, he began striking women randomly with the flat side of the weapon as terrified vendors and patrons scattered.
Chipapata then chased down Ruzive, hacking her repeatedly on the head and body. She collapsed in a pool of blood and later died at Shurugwi District Hospital.
Not done, he turned on Mkandla, slashing her on the head, hands, thighs, and foot, leaving her with deep lacerations that required urgent medical attention.
A post-mortem by Dr Roberto Lara Diaz at United Bulawayo Hospitals revealed that Ruzive died from a severe skull fracture and subdural haemorrhage caused by the vicious machete blows.
Chipapata was arrested soon after the attack following a police manhunt.
Justice Mutevedzi said society could not tolerate such barbaric acts, describing the killing as “uncalled for and deeply disturbing.”
