Woman Axes Husband 3 Times, Downs Poison

THE nurse who axed her husband THREE times, in a brutal murder case, before committing suicide after downing rat poison, had been tormented, for years, by her hubby’s extra-marital relationship with his long-term girlfriend.

That lengthy extra-marital romance resulted in the birth of a child.

When that romance was formalised at the weekend, with Martin Muduwa paying lobola, it triggered a tragic sequence of events.

Muduwa, who was a Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Commissioner and an MSU lecturer, (42), was axed three times by his wife Lyliosa Chirara (43), at their home in Dzivarasekwa Extension yesterday.

Lyliosa, who was a nurse at Sally Mugabe Hospital, then committed suicide after the murder.

H-Metro has established that a WhatsApp status update is believed to have triggered Muduwa’s murder and the subsequent tragic events which have left their community in shock.

According to Lyliosa’s friend, Nancy Tembo, the couple’s conflict, which has been raging on for years, was triggered by Muduwa’s long-term romance with a girlfriend he married at the weekend.

Nancy said Lyliosa had been confiding in her about her challenges, including her struggle to accept her husband’s girlfriend-turned-wife, whom Muduwa had been dating for five years.

The two were blessed with a child.

“She used to share with me her challenges and, among them, was one about her husband’s girlfriend,” Nancy said.

“She didn’t want to accept her as her husband’s second wife because of the way the lover had been provoking her.”

Nancy claimed that after Muduwa paid lobola for his girlfriend, he posted a ‘Roora Day’ photograph on his status.

She said Lyliosa became emotionally distressed after viewing it.

“When the husband paid lobola for the lover, he posted the ‘Roora Day’ picture on his status and that left her emotionally spent,” Nancy said.

“She felt the pain and the situation escalated. The WhatsApp status provoked her and, although her husband later removed the status, the damage had already been done.”

Nancy said she did not expect Lyliosa to take such a drastic step.

“I never thought she would come to a point of deciding to kill. I am deeply affected because I was aware of the family challenges,” she said.

Another neighbour, Cecilia, said she was the last person to speak to Muduwa at a bar in the neighbourhood before he retired for the night.

“I was shocked to hear that Commissioner Muduwa was no more,” Cecilia said.

“He wasn’t used to joking with female drinkers but on Tuesday he was too excited, maybe because it was a goodbye.”

Cecilia claimed that Muduwa bought beers for her and other women before leaving the bar at around 11pm.

“He left the bar around 11pm going home only for us to be greeted this morning with bad news,” she said.

One of Muduwa’s three children with Lyliosa, Faith, is said to have been the first person to enter her parents’ bedroom where she saw her father lying lifelessly in a pool of blood.

Muduwa had three deep cuts and an axe was placed nearby.

According to Faith, her mother was also seen writing in a book, just before she collapsed.

“She saw her mother writing something in a book which she later failed to locate,” said a relative.

“Within some minutes, her mother collapsed and Faith discovered a rat poison satchet on the floor.”

Faith rushed to alert her mother’s sister and they took the couple to a 24-hour clinic where Chirara was pronounced dead.

Lyliosa was referred to Parirenyatwa Hospital where she died upon admission.

A Zimpapers news crew witnessed a pool of blood, close to the headboard, on the couple’s bed.

One of the neighbours claimed Muduwa could have been struck on the head in his sleep.

The neighbour even suspected he was drunk.

“There were no reports of rats in the house before the murder suggesting that Chirara had bought the rat poison satchet and looked for an axe planning the murder,” he said.
In a statement, the ZHRC said the death of Muduwa was a devastating loss.

He was appointed as a Commissioner on December 19, 2024.

“Commissioner Muduva has made remarkable contributions to the work and mandate of the ZHRC,” the statement read.

“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with their children, families, relatives, friends and loved ones during this very difficult time.

“As the ZHRC family, we mourn together and stand in solidarity with the bereaved families.” *H-Metro*

TOP PIC: Martin Muduwa and Patience Mangwiro