‘We heard screams’Neighbours describe night of horror in Lovendale killing

NEIGHBOURS who were roused by a violent commotion outside a home in Bulawayo’s Lovendale suburb, where a husband allegedly struck his wife repeatedly with a plank, intervened to stop the assault before rushing the seriously injured woman to Mpilo Central Hospital for medical attention.

This was revealed by Ms Mercy Masiya, the 22-year-old daughter of the deceased, in an interview with Zimpapers on Tuesday, days after her mother was allegedly murdered by her husband.

Bulawayo police have identified the suspected perpetrator as 54-year-old Titus Masiya, who allegedly attacked his wife, Samkeliso Adams (47), following a dispute over suspected infidelity.

“Police in Bulawayo are investigating a case of murder where Samkeliso Adams had a misunderstanding with her husband, Titus Masiya, on 29 March at around 10 PM in Lovendale suburb. The couple argued over a cell phone number that was saved in the wife’s phone,” said Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Nomalanga Msebele.

Following the altercation, the couple reportedly retired to bed.

“But at 2 AM on 30 March, the accused took a plank and hit the now deceased all over the body repeatedly. She tried to run away, but he pursued her and continued assaulting her,” Insp Msebele said.
Neighbours who were awakened by the disturbance attempted to intervene and stop the accused from continuing the assault.

“The accused person then ran away and neighbours ferried the injured woman to Mpilo Central Hospital, where she was pronounced dead upon arrival,” she said.

The deceased woman’s daughter gave a harrowing account of how neighbours stepped in to restrain her father after they were alerted by piercing screams as her mother desperately tried to fend off the attacker.

“My parents started arguing on Sunday night after my father got angry that a particular cell phone number kept making calls on my mother’s phone. He grabbed the phone, called back the number and placed the call on speaker. The phone conversation turned into a heated argument, and my parents continued arguing after the call.

“I took my young daughter and three siblings to my room and we all went to bed. After a while, my parents had ironed out their issues,” said Ms Masiya.

She said she was jolted awake at around 2 AM by a neighbour shouting outside the house, urging her father to stop assaulting her mother.

“I have no idea how my parents ended up outside in the middle of the night and I was woken by our neighbour telling my father to stop what he was doing. I grabbed a torch, rushed outside and found my mother lying in a pool of blood just outside the door. A number of neighbours had started gathering outside our home, but I’m not sure when my father ran away because he just disappeared,” she said.

Several attempts were made to summon an ambulance to the scene before a neighbour eventually used his private vehicle to transport the injured woman to Mpilo Central Hospital.

“When we got to Mpilo, a doctor quickly attended to my mother and she was given a bed when the bleeding stopped. Unfortunately, a few hours later, we were told that she had passed away,” she said.
Police have since appealed to members of the public for any information that may lead to the accused’s arrest.

A neighbour, who requested anonymity, said some residents claimed to have seen the suspect near his home on Monday evening.

Funeral arrangements for the deceased have not yet commenced, with her daughter saying the widow’s family is yet to gather at the scene of the crime.