Online Reporter
Fungai Lupande
Mashonaland Central Bureau
WHAT was supposed to be a night of family bonding and beer drinking ended in bloodshed in Mt Darwin.
A man allegedly mistook his nephew for a thief and almost killed him with an axe.
The owner of the house had apparently forgotten that he had invited his nephew to spend the night at his home, when he mistook him for a thief.
Dera Chimutondo, 49, of Chimutondo Village, spent the evening sharing drinks with his nephew, Rinse Harrison (35), at Chimutondo Business Centre on Sunday.
According to Mashonaland Central provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Milton Mundembe, the pair agreed that Harrison would spend the night at his uncle’s homestead after the drinking spree.
But, somewhere between the last beer and dawn, Dera’s memory took an unexpected holiday.
At around 8am on Monday, Dera woke up searching for his cellphone.
In his drunken state, he allegedly looked at the sleeping figure in his house and concluded that a thief had somehow broken in.
Unfortunately for Harrison, his uncle’s “crime-fighting instincts” kicked in before his memory did.
Armed with an axe and apparently forgetting the hospitality he had extended just hours earlier, Dera struck his nephew once on the head.
The injured Harrison, probably wondering how a sleepover had turned into a survival test, managed to crawl outside where neighbour Help Ndawana (52) came to his rescue.
He was rushed to Mt Darwin Hospital with a deep cut to the head.
Police said Harrison is admitted at Mt Darwin Hospital and is now in a stable condition.
Dera was subsequently arrested.
Inspector Mundembe urged members of the public to drink responsibly and remain conscious of their surroundings, describing the incident as an unfortunate event that could have ended in tragedy.
Mathew Masinge