The grisly murder comes at a time the world is advocating
the protection of women’s rights during this month.
After allegedly committing the offence in full glare of his
two minor children, Joel Mutasa escaped to Penhalonga, just outside Mutare,
where he was arrested by detectives following a tip-off.
Acting Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Assistant
Inspector Wiseman Chinyoka confirmed the arrest of Mutasa for allegedly killing
his wife, Bryline Ngare (27).
“The now deceased and the accused person were husband and
wife blessed with two children aged seven and five, respectively. The couple
had a long-standing dispute, with Mutasa accusing Ngare of having an extra
marital affair. Mutasa left home in January.
“On February 25, the now late Ngare retired to bed with her
two children. Around midnight, Mutasa came and knocked on the door. Ngare
opened the door,” said Asst Insp Chinyoka. A misunderstanding ensued between
the two, resulting in Mutasa grabbing Ngare on the neck and strangling her to death.
After killing her, Mutasa undressed Ngare and became intimate with the corpse.
“The suspect used a wet towel to clean Ngare’s private
parts before changing her clothes,” said Asst Insp Chinyoka.
Mutasa allegedly took a thick yellow twine and joined it
with a wire.
He tied it around the deceased’s neck, lifted her up from
the bed and hung her on the roof truss.
He then disappeared.
Later that morning, a neighbour was awakened by the
couple’s children who were crying as they tried to open the door from inside.
The neighbour opened the door and saw Ngare’s body hanging
from the truss.
A report was made at ZRP Hobhouse.
During interviews with neighbours, detectives picked up
that the couple had a history of disputes and that they were no longer staying
together.
One of the neighbours told the detectives that she heard a
knock and Mutasa’s voice around midnight, but surprisingly she did not see him
in the morning.
A search for the suspect was conducted but it yielded
nothing.
Detectives were tipped that Mutasa was at Premier Central,
Penhalonga, where he was panning for gold.
Police reacted swiftly and went to Penhalonga in search of
him.
Upon his arrest, Mutasa admitted to strangling his wife.
He also revealed that he had raped the corpse and later
hung it from the roof truss to fake suicide.
In 2020, the national gender-based violence hotline run by
women’s rights charity Musasa answered nearly 7 000 calls from mainly women in
distress, a 40 percent increase from the previous year.
By the end of 2020, Musasa had helped some 40 000 women via
its hotline as well as shelters, mobile clinics, social media sites and legal
assistance centres.
Advocacy groups say many more incidents of physical
violence go undetected, with about nine in 10 of reported cases linked to abuse
by a husband or partner. Manica Post
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