adminSifundiso Ndlovu Chronicle Reporter
THE Sauerstown family that had their house petrol bombed by a jilted married man on Wednesday night is facing hard times after their house with an estimated value of $60,000 was totally destroyed together with property worth more than $40,000 which was inside.
Oliver Tatiwa who died in the inferno allegedly started the blaze in a bid to kill his estranged girlfriend Cherelle Ncube.
Ncube and their one-year-old daughter escaped with minor burns while Tatiwa who is suspected to have been drunk, failed to find his way out of the burning house.
Acting Bulawayo chief fire officer Edward Mpofu valued the house at about $60,000.
He said it was severely damaged.
“According to our preliminary findings, the house was not insured,” Mpofu added.
The owner of the house, Stella Mapanda, was reportedly attending a church conference when her house was torched. She refused to talk to this reporter.
When the news crew visited the house yesterday, the family was seated at the garage, which seems to be temporarily accommodating family members.
Food was being prepared on a fire outside the house.
Yesterday police who were still going through the debris at the house, told our news crew that they were not allowing people inside the house as they are still conducting investigations.
A source close to the investigations said they were looking for the pick which Tatiwa used to assault Grievance Mupani and his wife, a cousin to the late arsonist’s former lover.
Mupani said Tatiwa’s relatives had visited the house earlier and met the elders.
“I don’t know what they discussed. I was only called in to explain what I witnessed,” said Mupani.
The latest incident is the second fatal fire incident in Sauerstown suburb within a month.
Keagan Peel, a toddler, was burnt to death last month in the same suburb after his brother accidentally dropped a match stick onto his bed.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter