Chronicle Editor
Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
ONE of the suspects who tricked a fruit vendor into following them into a bush under the guise of leading her to a farm and then allegedly killed her after robbing her of a cellphone and tomatoes has been arrested.
Lucky Sibanda (39) of Dibuthibu village in Jambezi and Michael Mbewe, who is still at large, allegedly met Ms Tsitsi Theodore Hove at Cement Siding area on her way to villages surrounding Springs Farm in Umguza district where she intended to sell tomatoes and cigarettes.
They allegedly duped her into believing that there was a mine in the vicinity where she could secure a better market for her products.
The two men led the woman to a bushy area where they allegedly ganged up and fatally attacked her with sticks. They took her cellphone, tomatoes and cigarettes before shoving the body in a thicket and fleeing.
The deceased’s body was discovered by a herd boy who reported the matter to the police. She was identified by her husband through the clothes she was wearing.
Sibanda appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Mr Lizwe Jamela facing a murder charge and was remanded in custody to February 6.
The prosecutor, Mr Denmark Chihombe said on August 27 last year, Sibanda and Mbewe met Hove in Cement Siding on her way to sell tomatoes and cigarettes.
“Sibanda and Mbewe duped her into believing that there was a mine after Middlelands Farm where tomatoes and cigarettes were in high demand. They allegedly offered to accompany the unsuspecting woman and she agreed,” said Mr Chihombe.
The court heard that they walked along a foot path in a bushy area and when they reached a paddock on the eastern side of the Middlelands Farm house, Sibanda allegedly struck the woman with a wooden stick before his accomplice joined in. The woman died on the spot.-@mashnets
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter