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Peter Matika and Richard Mponde, Sunday News Reporters
A MAN from Tokwana area in Plumtree was last week found dead in a shallow dam, after escaping from police custody.
The man’s body was found by a fisherman, who in turn alerted the police who retrieved the body.
Matabeleland South provincial spokesperson Inspector Philisani Ndebele said police were investigating a case of a man who drowned.
“We are handling a case of sudden death, where a man was found dead floating in a shallow dam. Results from the postmortem point to asphyxia as a result of drowning. The man is reported to have been apprehended for indecently assaulting a nurse but managed to escape from custody. He was then found the following day by a fisherman dead and floating in a dam,” said Ins Ndebele.
However, some villagers alleged that the man was murdered.
“A man who had stayed for about 15 years in Plumtree may have been murdered by some men for fondling one of their girlfriends. The man was at a bar, drinking and indecently assaulted the nurse by touching her breasts. The man was reprimanded by other patrons, before the nurse got into her car and drove to Matjinge base and returned in the company of two men,” said a villager who requested anonymity.
Another villager said romour in the area was that the man was shoved in the boot of the nurse’s car, before being driven to an unknown location.
“He was left in police hands and all we heard was that he was discovered dead floating in a shallow dam, after having escaped from the police. His body was found floating in a decomposed state. We are worried as a community that the man was murdered. Investigations should be thoroughly carried out on this matter,” said the villager.
Temba Dube