Mentally ill grandson kills granny with hoe

A 30-year-old mentally-ill man from Magama Village under Chief Nemangwe in Gokwe is on the run after fatally striking his grandmother (82) with a hoe before cutting off her left breast.

Farai Mahwindi was in 2016 charged with murder and committed to Mlondolozi Prison’s Psychiatric Unit, but was released last year in November.

Midlands provincial police spokesperson Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko confirmed that Ms Zvierengwi Manyeredzi (82) was killed on Tuesday at around 9am.

“Phibeon Mahwindi (65) who is the father to the suspect and son to the now deceased left home to the fields while the mother Catherine Manyeredzi (58) went to the garden leaving the now deceased and the suspect at home,” he said.

Insp Mahoko said Catherine returned to the homestead and found Ms Manyeredzi’s lifeless body in the kitchen hut.

“She examined the body and observed a wound on the head. She alerted other villagers who made a search and discovered Farai’s spoor which trailed from the kitchen where the body was into the bush. This gave them the suspicion that he could be the one who attacked his grandmother,” he said.

Insp Mahoko said the police examined the body and found a deep cut on the back of the head and that the left breast was completely removed.

“A blood-stained wooden hoe handle was found beside the body. The body was taken to Gokwe South District Hospital. The suspect is still at large,” he said.

Insp Mahoko said during investigations, Mr Mahwindi revealed that his son once committed murder in 2016, but was found to be mentally challenged and committed to Mlondolozi Psychiatric Unit where he was discharged in November last year.