Machete wielding robbers remanded in custody
TWO suspected robbers wielding iron bars and machetes who terrorised a community in Domboshava appeared in court yesterday facing two counts of robbery and one count of unlawful entry.
Aleck Aggripa Farai Gomo (28) and Ruvengo Chipfunda Sandalaki (43) were remanded in custody by Harare magistrate Mr Dennis Mangosi pending their bail application tomorrow.
The two were arrested after one of the households they raided got word to the neighbours who managed to call in the police while the pair were still in the vicinity. The two tried to run away with some of the stolen goods but after a chase, they were apprehended while hiding in the bush near Makumbe Mission High School in Domboshava.
The State alleged that on November 8 at around 10pm, the two pounced on Ms Alice Madembe while she was in the sitting room together with her 12-year-old daughter, Mitchel, in Matukutu Village under Chief Chinamhora in Domboshava.
Armed with iron bars and machetes, Gomo and Sandalaki broke the glass on the French doors and entered into the house. Ms Madembe and her daughter ran to the bedroom and locked themselves inside but the two allegedly followed them and ordered them to open the door while demanding cash and valuables.
Sensing danger, Ms Madembe gave them US$150 through an opening between the floor and bedroom door but still, they continued demanding more money while threatening to break the door, prompting the woman to open the door.
One of the suspects assaulted Ms Madembe with the flat side of a machete several times all over her body, and she surrendered another US$50 and her cellphone. The pair then ransacked the whole house and took a 5kg gas tank,10 blankets and an assortment of groceries. Before they left the property, they locked Ms Madembe and her two daughters inside and went away.
That same night they visited Ms Esteri Zinyama’s home and after breaking into her kitchen, stole two 100-watt solar panels and went away and hid the panels in a cabin.
At 2am that same night, they carried on their crime spree and went to Mr Josphat Mudzimu’s residence at Makumbe Mission High School where they found him in his bedroom with his wife.
They used machetes and an iron bar to break the window panes and threatened to kill Mr Mudzimu if he failed to produce cash, cellphones, television sets, groceries and clothes.
Fearing for his life and that of his family, he handed over a cellphone, a handbag containing US$63 and groceries through a broken window. One of the two finally managed to break open the window and climbed into the bedroom holding a machete and stole a 32-inch television set, a 43-inch television set, five blankets, and clothes.
During the robbery, Mr Mudzimu’s wife contacted neighbours, and they were able to alert police officers who were at Makumbe Mission who came round, and ended the night of crime.