Cop killer sentenced to 25 years in jail

TWENTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD Charles Chauluka who in 2019 killed a police officer stationed at Entumbane Police Station, Constable Eckson Mane, has been sentenced to 25 years.

Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Martin Makonese gave Chauluka the lengthy sentence after finding him guilty of killing the law enforcer who was on duty during the January demonstrations in 2019. According to the States case, Mane was part of a police unit that was deployed to Siyephambili Drive and Luveve Road to maintain law and order. The State also contended that a crowd began to gather, blocking the road and burning tyres.

The numbers continued to increase as more and more people joined in the demonstrations and at that point, Const Mane and his colleagues called in the Support Unit and the crowd was dispersed after tear gas was fired towards it.

After the departure of the Support Unit, the crowd regrouped and continued its demonstration. The now deceased and his unit were eventually outnumbered and tried to disperse the crowd by firing warning shots into the air until they ran out of ammunition. Const Mane and his unit then retreated from the scene and ran in different directions into Njube suburb.

Const Mane ran and sought cover at House Number J84 in Njube but was spotted inside the yard by the rioters who dragged him onto the street where they assaulted him with hands, feet and stones all over the body. The crowd then left him lying on the ground bleeding. He was then taken first to Njube Clinic before he was moved to the Police Hospital at Ross Camp where he died during the night.

The medical report stated that the deceased died from right epidural and subdural hemorrhage head trauma.

The court heard that the police received a tipoff that Chauluka was one of Mane’s attackers. He was arrested and an identification parade was organised and he was picked out of the line by witnesses.

In his defence, Chauluka, who pleaded not guilty, said it was a question of mistaken identity having claimed that he was alone at home on the day of the incident. The violent demonstrations, which left a trail of destruction in the city and other parts of the country, were backed by the opposition political party and activists. — @RealSimbaJemwa