Man kills brother over rituals

Alward Zengwa, a 33-year-old man from Zvamatsai village under Chief Mabika in Bikita is on the run after he allegedly killed his brother Zirwere Zirwere (60) from the same village on November 26 2023 for allegedly refusing to consult traditional healers as a family and appease the spirit of a dead person so as to get rid of misfortunes the accused was encountering.

Masvingo Acting Provincial Police Spokesperson Assistant Inspector Lorraine Ndlovu Chanakira confirmed the incident and appealed to members of the public with information on the whereabouts of the suspect to come forward.

“I can confirm that we received a murder case from Bikita where a man allegedly killed his brother for failing to comply with the Chief’s order to engage a traditional healer to get rid of the accused’s misfortunes.

“We are appealing to members of the public with information that may lead to the arrest of the accused to come forward” said Ndlovu.

Sources said the accused person left his father, who is the informant in the matter, together with brothers Simbaguru Zengwa (35) and Effort Zengwa (30) and went to the now deceased’s’ place to confront him and get an explanation on why he had failed to comply with the local Chief’s instructions that the family should seek assistance from a traditional healer and appease the avenging spirit of a dead person to get rid of some misfortunes.

The accused found his brother sitting outside and asked him why he could not comply with the Chief’s instructions.

Zirwere did not respond to his brother, which angered Zengwa who took a wooden log and hit his brother twice on the head. He took a switch and hit him several times all over the body. Zirwere then fell and started bleeding from the nose after sustaining multiple injuries including a swollen head. Zengwa fled the scene leaving him unconscious.

After about an hour, the accused’s two brothers followed him at the now deceased place, saw the deceased’s state after which they advised their father that the accused had seriously assaulted the now deceased leading to his death.

The matter was reported at Mashoko Police and the deceased’s body was taken to Masvingo Provincial Hospital for postmortem.