Chronicle Editor
Whinsley Masara, Chronicle Reporter
A MAN from Plumtree died after two men allegedly clobbered him with knobkerries, hoe handles and a hammer during a fight over a 17-year-old girl.
Wiseman Moyo (18) and Peacemore Ngwenya (18), both of Dry Line, Sikente Area in Tsholotsho allegedly assaulted Given Sibanda (19) of Bilu Sibanda’s Homestead, Nzilo line in Plumtree, on Wednesday last week.
Sibanda was declared dead on admission to Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo last Thursday morning.
Villagers initiated a manhunt for the two suspected murderers and they have been both arrested.
Moyo was arrested on Thursday.
Villagers ambushed Ngwenya at his employer’s friend’s home and handed him over to the police over the weekend.
Sources said the girlfriend, Mathende Sibanda of Skente Area under chief Tategulu, had visited her grandmother in the same village. A neighbour who spoke on condition of anonymity said Sibanda had driven all the way from Plumtree to Skente Area to visit Mathende.
“He drove from Plumtree in the company of a friend who was not identified. At his girlfriend’s home, he was told that she had visited her grandmother who lived a few kilometres away.
“The pair followed Mathende to her grandmother’s home and found her with the two suspects. Her grandmother had already retired to bed. The four men started quarrelling over the girl, resulting in the two suspects producing weapons which they used to clobber the now deceased,” said the neighbour.
The neighbour said Sibanda’s friend vanished as soon as a fight broke out.”Moyo and Ngwenya attacked Sibanda, bashing him with a hammer and knobkerries until he passed out. Mathende called out to neighbours who rushed to the scene and found Sibanda unconscious. He was bleeding profusely from the head and body,” he said.
Sibanda was rushed to Tsholotsho District Hospital where due to his critical condition, he was quickly transferred to Mpilo Central Hospital for further management.
He died upon admission.
Ngwenya had been hiding in the bushes since Thursday and through a tip-off, villagers ambushed him as he arrived at his employer’s friend’s home where he had been hiding at night since the day of the murder.
Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Sipiwe Makonese could not be reached for comment.
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