Kombi driver beats girlfriend to death following “romantic night”

A KOMBI driver from Plumtree has been arrested for murder after he allegedly beat his 20-year-old girlfriend to death, police have confirmed.

Auther Tshuma attacked Kwanele Ngwenya (20) leading to her death after “a romantic night” at his homestead.

Kwanele from Mphugwi village in the Tsukuru area in Bulilima District died on June 27. A family spokesperson Mr Ordain Ngwenya said the family is distraught over the matter.

“We gather the suspect came at night and took the late to his family homestead. When they got there he beat her badly until she became unconscious. He then bundled her into his kombi and someone drove,” said Mr Ngwenya.

He said when they got to the Ngwenya homestead around 4am, he awoke Kwanele’s grandmother and told her that she had suffered seizures.

Mr Ngwenya said the grandmother was shocked at her condition and where she was coming from at that time of the night as she last saw her in good condition when they went to sleep.

“They rushed her to Bhambadzi Clinic in a critical condition and she died at around 10:30 am. We took the body for post-mortem at United Bulawayo Central Hospitals on June 28. The Post-mortem report shows she died from brain injuries, subarachnoid haemorrhage – (bleeding in the area of a thin layer that covers and protects the brain) and head trauma,” he said.

The Chronicle saw a copy of the post-mortem report.

“As a family, we are in deep pain because she was the only child. Her mother died seven days after her birth which forced her father to take a decision not to marry until his daughter had grown up. He is not taking the death well and is damaged, uhlaba umkhosi,” said Mr Ngwenya.

The family said they are not happy with the way Madlambudzi police handled the matter which forced them to complain to the police district head.

“After the post-mortem, some officers from Madlambudzi addressed the villagers and declared that the accused had no case to answer as the post-mortem results had exonerated him. We are shocked why they did this as that report is confidential. They later phoned one of our family members and told him that they were releasing the suspect and that we should go ahead and bury our daughter,” he said.

Mr Ngwenya said it took the intervention of the officer commanding the district for the suspect to appear in court after they complained. He said the family of the suspect has so far turned down plans for the two families to meet, which is raising tempers in the village.

“If they do not meet us we will be forced to surrender the body of our late daughter at their homestead. The villagers are not happy about how the suspect family is handling the matter and suspect that they could have bribed the police officers who handled the matter at Madlambudzi Police Station,” said Mr Ngwenya.

The body of the late is expected to leave Bulawayo today for burial tomorrow in Bulilima District. The suspect appeared in court on Tuesday in Plumtree and was remanded in custody until July 16. Matabeleland South provincial Police spokesperson Inspector Loveness Mangena confirmed the case and said the suspect has been arrested. She however said she was not aware of the complaints against Madlambudzi Police by the family.

“The case was initially being handled as a sudden death after the suspect told police that the late fell and became unconscious. But after the post-mortem was done, the matter was treated as murder which led to the arrest of the suspect,” she said.

@themkhust