FOUR SISTERS BEHEADED
Assailants burn victims, take heads away Zim pastor, wife shot dead in SA
A GOKWE family lost all four daughters, three of them minors, after they were allegedly beheaded and their bodies burnt beyond recognition in a hut.
The incident occurred last Friday at Chirima Village under Chief Mukoka area in Gokwe South.
The motive for the killings is not known yet, but the family — identified only as the Dlomos — suspects that the four lost their lives in a ritual murder.
The assailants, according to the family members, went away with the heads after dismembering the four bodies.
The minor girls were in Grades Three and Seven. The other one aged 14 was in Form Two while the eldest sibling was said to be in her 20s and was married.
Chief Mukoka yesterday confirmed the incident and said the village is located about 22 kilometres from Kana Mission.
“I can confirm that a family from Chirima village has lost four children after they were beheaded and burnt in one of the huts. This is sad and I cannot imagine what the parents of the victims are experiencing. It is my hope that they find comfort in the Lord during this difficult time,” he said.
Chief Mukoka said he had not yet met the family as he was at Gokwe Centre but was preparing to go to the homestead.
He said he was working with the police to investigate the matter as it was beyond the jurisdiction of a traditional court.
The chief advised people to respect human life and not settle scores by killing each other.
“Things that happen nowadays are really scary. I do not know how a normal person can have the strength to kill four people, including helpless children. People should repent because society has become very unsafe for our children,” he said.
A family member who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Dlomo family lost their daughters at around midnight on Friday.
Their eldest daughter who was married had visited her family when the incident occurred. The family suspects ritual murder. “We are suspecting that this person wants to use our children’s body parts for muti purposes. Since the bodies were burnt beyond recognition, there is a possibility that some of the body parts could have been mutilated. Whoever did this to my nephew’s family deserves the greatest of punishments and he will not know peace. This is Gokwe,” she said. “The bodies were headless and burnt.” Mourners are gathered at the Dlomos’ homestead in Chirima Village and burial is set for today.
National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said she had not yet received a report on the matter.
Midlands police spokesperson Inspector Ethel Mukwende could not be reached for comment. —@andile_tshuma
See Comment on Page 4 A ZIMBABWEAN pastor and his wife were shot and killed by two armed robbers in South Africa while their two daughters, one of them aged three years, watched helplessly.
The armed robbers went away with two cellphones and a laptop.
Alexandra Police Station spokesperson Captain Kholeka Mhlongo confirmed the incident, which occurred on Thursday shortly after 2AM at the couple’s rented home in Scottsville Extension in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu Natal province.
Capt Kholeka Mhlongo said the suspects used a concrete brick to break the front door to gain entry into the house.
He identified the deceased pastor as Proud Kanyungwe (32) and his wife, Belinda Tarisai Mukucha (28). Kanyungwe was a senior pastor at the Grace International Church.
Capt Mhlongo said Kanyungwe woke up and went to investigate after hearing noise.
“Two armed gunmen entered the deceased’s rented house at around 2AM. We suspect when he (Kanyungwe) saw the door opening he tried to wrestle with the suspects and during the scuffle, one of the two men pulled out a gun and shot him,” he said.
The suspects then got into the house and shot Mukucha while she was walking out of her bedroom door as her children were watching.
The suspects came through the backyard and tried to gain entry through the garage roof.
“They removed some tiles and they couldn’t get access into the house. They then came to open the garage door and disconnected the alarm there,” said Capt Mhlongo.
He said the robbers then forced open the security gate and hit the door with a concrete brick.
The suspects are still at large and police have since launched a manhunt for them.
The incident comes barely a month after another Bulawayo woman was shot 13 times by unknown suspects while on her way to catch a taxi in Pretoria’s Soshanguve area.
The woman identified as Sikhethiwe Moyo (30) died on the spot.
The suspects took out a cellphone SIM card from her phone and fled. The phone was found next to her body.—@mashnets.
Welfare. Ms Ndlovu said a relative of the children has been frequenting the hospital to see them.
She said members of the public should not resort to suicide when faced with challenges.
“We urge members of the public to seek counselling services instead of killing themselves. The children could have died for something they do not even know. But we thank God that they are safe and out of danger,” said Ms Ndlovu.
A source said the woman could have been cheating with her employer’s husband resulting in the fall-out. “Things didn’t go well after this was discovered. She was buried last Friday,” said the source.—@nqotshili.