adminShe identified the man as Lambani Sibanda of Makombe.
“It looks like he had a long-standing domestic dispute with his wife, Evelyn Makuya, which resulted in the wife reporting the matter to the village head and a date was set for the two to appear at a traditional court,” said Sgt Mangena.
She said Makuya then left her matrimonial home to stay with her parents.
On the day of the court, instead of going to the village head’s homestead as agreed earlier, Sibanda went to his in-laws’ home to fetch his wife. The woman refused and ordered her husband to first attend the court session.
“Soon after his wife’s refusal to return to their matrimonial home, Sibanda went to a nearby bush where he hanged himself from a tree branch using a piece of wire,” said Sgt Mangena.
His body was discovered by a local villager who then alerted the relatives and a report was made to the police. The body was taken to the Beitbridge District Hospital mortuary.
Sgt Mangena said they did not suspect any foul play and a post-mortem was waived by the local magistrate, Mr Carrington Karidzagundi.
“As police we continue to encourage people to seek counselling first in the event of disputes rather than resort to committing suicide. In fact, we have traditional leaders, counsellors from churches as well as our own officers from the public relations and liaison department who can assist in resolving disputes,” said the police spokesperson.
Online Reporter