MAN BUTCHERS LIVE-IN LOVER, ATTEMPTS SUICIDE

A KWEKWE gold panner allegedly stabbed his live-in girlfriend of three years nine times all over her body, killing her on the spot before blowing off the house’s roof with dynamite in a suicide attempt.

The incident which is now the talk of the gold mining town happened early yesterday at housenumber W128 Amaveni where Godfrey Sibanda (37) and his girlfriend, Ms Moline Maimba, lived.

When The Chronicle news crew visited the house which belongs to Ms Maimba’s parents yesterday afternoon, police were still conducting investigations. Debris from the roof and shattered windows gave a strong hint that something horrific had gone wrong at the house.

While reasons for the brutal attack are still not known, relatives told the Chronicle that Sibanda, who is now in police custody assisting with investigations, arrived home from a beer binge at around 2:45am.

The two did not have any children together, but Ms Maimba had a 14-year- old daughter from a previous relationship. Mr Gift Muradzwa, a tenant at the house, said he was awakened by Ms Maimba’s screams and rushed to their room.

He said he went into their bedroom and found Sibanda seated on Ms Maimba’s chest while stabbing her.

“I was asleep in the room I rent at the house when I heard a sharp cry before I gained entry into Ms Maimba’s room. I was shocked to see Sibanda seated on top of her while holding a kitchen knife with both hands, stabbing her like he was stabbing some dangerous wild animal. I approached Sibanda who threatened to stab me but I advanced, fought him and managed to grab the knife from him and I went out of the room to hide the knife,” said Mr Muradzwa.

He said he then ran to the police to report the matter. Another tenant, Mrs Graca Mugari, said they witnessed Sibanda fighting Mr Muradzwa who managed to disarm him.

“Ms Maimba tried to get up from the bed but she failed and was bleeding profusely. Sibanda then said ‘Cynthia, (Ms Maimba’s daughter) look I have killed your mother. So go to your father in Chegutu and stay with him.’ As he was saying that, he was holding her leg before letting it fall on the bed,” she said.

Mrs Mugari said Sibanda then went to the kitchen and opened a gas cylinder valve saying he wanted to commit suicide.

She said she alerted other people to leave the house before she opened all the windows at the house and later closed the gas cylinder.

“Sibanda then took dynamite and trapped it on his waist. We ran outside the house. We then heard an explosion as the roof blew off. He, however, survived before the police arrived and arrested him,” she said.

Mr Douglas Tapfuma, whose wife was Ms Maimba’s elder sister said he got a call from Sibanda minutes after the incident, informing him that he had killed her.

“Ms Maimba is my sister-in-law and Sibanda called me telling me that he had killed her. I couldn’t believe it. I was in Bulawayo en-route to Maphisa for a government programme when I received the sad news.

Acting Midlands Province police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende could not be reached for comment.

So the police found him at the house. When I asked him why he committed such a horrific act, he failed to explain saying that it had just happened,” he said.

“So we don’t really know why he killed her. They had been staying together for about three years and we are shocked as a family that our relative lost her life at the hands of a person she loved.”

Acting Midlands’s province police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Ethel Mukwende could not be reached for comment. herald

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