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Yeukai Karengezeka
Court Correspondent
Four members of a Harare neighbourhood watch committee who allegedly assaulted a mentally challenged person assuming that he was a thief and he later died, appeared in court of Friday.
Donald Jamela (69), Tinashe Jamela (27), Roy Mujaho (29) and Thembalamme (28) appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Munashe Chibanda charged with murder.
The four accused persons who live in Cranborne, were granted $150 000 bail each.
They return to court on August 31.
Prosecuting, Mr Zebediah alleged that on May 1 the now deceased Itayi Mwandicheya — a mentally challenged person — left Chinhoyi to visit his uncle Ozias Daka in Cranborne, Harare.
He got to his house around 11pm, knocked at the gate, but there was no response, hence he went to a vending stall at the intersection of Biddulph and Chiremba road where he sought shelter for the night.
At around 1am, Mwandicheya was approached by the four accused persons who were on patrols since they are members of the neighbourhood watch committee asking him what he was doing in the area.
The court heard, Mwandicheya told them whom he had visited and could not enter the yard.
The accused persons did not believe him and started assaulting him with claps, sticks all over his body, accusing him of being a thief.
After realising that they had injured Mwandicheya they decided to call Daka to confirm if he was his nephew and he confirmed that. They then took him to Daka’s house. On May 2 Mwandicheya left Harare for Kwekwe to visit his aunt whom she told that he had been assaulted by neighbourhood watch in Cranborne.
Then on May 5, Mwandicheya died on his way to Chinhoyi due to injuries sustained during the assault.
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