Prominent farmer Bosman accused of killing boy with combine harvester, bribing police officers to evade arrest

A PROMINENT white commercial farmer, Daniel Brink Bosman, is at the centre of controversy after allegedly piercing the skull of a 12-year-old boy with the front-end of a combine harvester, leading to the child’s death in 2022.

The tragedy occurred at Dandreanum farm in Lions’ Den, on the outskirts of Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West, when the victim, Suarance Moffat, and two other minors were marvelling and cheering on the farmer as he steered the giant machine across his maize field.

According to the now deceased boy’s parents, the farmer, for unknown reasons, drove the harvester towards the children and started chasing them, striking Suarance with a sharp object from the machine.

The bereaved family is convinced that at the time of the incident, Bosman connived with one of his drivers, Douglas Zhanewo to concoct circumstances surrounding the boy’s death.

The victim’s father, Tichaona Moffat, told NewZimbabwe.com that in 2022, after the tragedy, Bosman then proceeded to Murereka Police Station, where he made a false report stating that his tractor driver, Zhanewo, had run over the child.

“The employee was subsequently arrested and appeared in court on a culpable homicide charge. This is despite our vehement denial that our boy had not been run over by a tractor, which weighs so much it could have flattened his body,” said Moffat.

“Instead, we noticed that there was a deep cut on his head, which was corroborated by the postmortem results. So, this narrative that he had been run over was a blue lie to cover up for murder deliberately committed by Bosman, who chased the minors before killing my son,” he added.

Moffat painted a gory picture, as narrated by his other son who witnessed the tragedy, of Suarence’s body dangling from the fork on the combine harvester bleeding profusely until he died. Thereafter, Moffat further claimed, Bosman instructed a terrified Zhanewo to remove the body which they later dumped near his homestead.

“At the purported scene of the accident, there was no sign of blood at all. This suggests the incident happened elsewhere and the body was dumped where it was found as a broader plot to conceal the murder. Despite raising all these facts, the police are reluctant to arrest Bosman and l strongly suspect money is exchanging hands,” said Moffat.

A postmortem conducted by Dr. Ivene Maponga on May 24, 2022, concluded that the boy’s death resulted from a deep laceration on the head, causing a perforation of the skull.

As a result, Zhanewo was discharged in 2024 following the conclusion of the State case under Number CHN/CD/1983/24, which established that the deceased had not been run over by a tractor.

The ‘slain’ boy’s family says it has not known peace ever since the unfortunate 2022 incident, which claimed the life of their second-born child.

In a desperate bid to seek justice, Moffat recently opened a fresh case against Bosman.

“As is tradition, a memorial service should have been held for our murdered son but until now nothing has been done because our boy Suarance’s soul is not resting. We demand Bosman’s immediate arrest so that he is prosecuted as an accused person, not as an informant,” said Moffat.

Resultantly, police have since opened a murder case against Bosman under CR Number 45/04/25, as well as a case for filing a false report, CR Number 46/04/25.

However, Bosman has not yet been arrested.

Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Mashonaland West spokesperson, Inspector Ian Kohwera professed ignorance over the case.

The family, which suspects corruption which also involves National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ) officials, has intensified pressure, through its lawyer Tungamirai Chamutsa of Chamutsa and Partners Legal Practitioners, to have Bosman arrested for murder.

In a letter to District Public Prosecutor, Herald Matura, officially received on May 15, 2025, the late Suarance’s father demanded justice to take its course.

“On 11 April 2025 our client reported criminal allegations against the above accused person (Bosman), of murder of his child Suarance Moffat and making a false report as defined in the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act (Chapter 9:23).

“Statements were recorded at Murereka Police Station from our client and his son Junior Mephis Moffat (a juvenile) on the same day… However, a docket of road traffic culpable homicide was opened…” wrote the lawyers.

The same Chinhoyi Traffic police arrested and investigated the wrong person on the same facts under CR28/05/22.

“They arrested and charged Douglas Zhanewo with road traffic culpable homicide despite protestation from our client that his son, Suarance Moffat, was not killed by the tractor which was being driven by Douglas Zhanewo,” further argued the lawyers.

“Our client reported a case of murder against the accused person, but Chinhoyi Traffic preferred a charge of culpable homicide arising out of a road accident.

“Further, they distilled the original report of the eyewitness Junior Mephis Moffat. Kindly compare the typed statement of the witness dated 9/04/25 and the handwritten statement recorded at Murereka Police Station on 11 April 2025. Key names of participants and vital materials which are in the long-hand statement, are missing in the typed statement.

“Our client is baffled by the statement self-recorded by the investigating officer, one Muchihwa Misheck, dated 16 May 2025, a date which we are yet to live and see. In that statement, what is disturbing is the attitude of Mr Muchihwa in which he is discounting the credibility of other witnesses and evidence. This is outside the investigating officer’s jurisdiction and purview,” Chamutsa wrote.

The lawyers also noted that the wheels of justice are turning slowly.

“We are, therefore, instructed to inform you, as we hereby do, that our client strongly thinks that it is in the interest of justice that the accused Daniel Brink Bosman be charged with the crime of murder as defined in section 47(1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23…

“This is said so because there is reasonable suspicion that he killed our client’s child, one Suarance Moffat. A prima facie case for the prosecution can be raised,” Chamutsa wrote.

When contacted for comment on the matter, Bosman refused to shed light on the tragic incident and subsequent allegations raised against him.

“I am not at liberty to comment as this matter is still in the courts,” Bosman told NewZimbabwe.com. _*NewZimbabwe*_