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Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
THE callous Nyanga ritual murderer who killed his neighbour’s four-year-old daughter before harvesting some of her body parts that include lips and an arm will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Philemon Nematondo was recently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by Mutare High Court Judge, Justice Isaac Muzenda.
Justice Muzenda said Nematombo was a befitting candidate for capital punishment, but the court settled for life imprisonment in respect of global judiciary trends on death sentence.
Principal public prosecutor, Mrs Jane Matsikidze prosecuted.
She said both the deceased girl and the murderer lived in Nyanga Messengers Camp when the latter killed her.
The court heard that on December 4, 2021 around lunchtime, the deceased’s mother – Ms Lydia Ndarangwa – was at home in the camp and actually greeted Nematombo when he passed by her home before committing the heinous crime.
The deceased was playing with her friends at a house in the camp when Nematombo approached them and talked to her.
Nematombo lured the now deceased away from the camp to a nearby mountain where he strangled her to death.
He cut off her lips and one arm before leaving the deceased’s body in a sitting position, leaning against a rock.
The deceased’s remains were located on December 11, 2021.
At around 3.30pm, one of the deceased’s friends returned home alone and this raised alarm.
However, a search around the camp yielded nothing.
One Evidence Nyawasuru, a girl who also resides in the camp, later indicated that she had seen the deceased following Nematombo that afternoon.
She also revealed that she saw Nematombo walking with the deceased.
This was the last time that the deceased was seen.
Several witnesses who helped with investigations revealed that they had seen Nematombo with the child heading towards Destiny area.
A report was made to the police and Nematombo was arrested.
On December 10, 2021, a fellow resident in the camp approached Ms Ndarangwa with her daughter’s shoes that had been picked along the path near Destiny.
They were identified as the shoes that the deceased had been wearing when she went missing.
A search in that direction later led to the discovery of the deceased’s remains on December 11, 2021.
During the course of the trial, the court heard that Nematondo cut off the young girl’s lips and one arm.
The cuts suggested that a sharp object was used to harvest the body parts.
Online Reporter