TWO suspected armed robbers, believed to be part of a gang
that has been terrorising residents in Mutare’s affluent suburbs with machetes,
were arrested at a night club in the city centre on Monday morning following a
heated brawl with sex workers over unpaid dues.
Irked by the duo’s behaviour after one of them refused to
pay for a quickie, the sex workers alerted bouncers manning the popular night
spot who quickly descended on the suspected robbers.
Upon realising that there were no match for the security
details, the suspects — Artwell Murwisi (28) and Prosper Mudzingwa (20) —
decided to arm themselves with machetes, catapults and other dangerous weapons.
The weapons were stashed in a taxi parked outside the night
club. Murwisi, of Sunningdale 2 in Harare and Mudzingwa of Rimuka in Kadoma
then attacked the security personnel using the weapons but members of the
public intervened and fought in the bouncers’ corner.
The mob gave the duo a thorough hiding leaving them
battered, bruised and bleeding profusely from deep wounds.
Detectives later arrived at the scene and apprehended the
duo but some of the accomplices had already fled from the scene.
Murwisi and Mudzingwa were later taken to Mutare Provincial
Hospital for treatment under police guard.
On Tuesday they were hauled before courts facing 24 counts
of attempted murder, rape, robbery, unlawful entry and the possession of
articles for criminal use.
They were not asked to plead to the charges when they
appeared before Mutare magistrate, Mr Tendai Mahwe. The court advised them to
apply for bail at the High Court since they were facing Third Schedule
offences.
The duo will be back in court on December 11 for routine
remand. Asked by Mr Mahwe how they sustained injuries the suspects
said:
“We were assaulted by the public”. Public prosecutor, Mr Fletcher Karombe, told the court that
Murwisi and Mudzingwa were at Mandisa Night Club along with their accomplices
only identified as Matibiri and Majamu when they picked a misunderstanding with
Patience Maturure.
The argument caught the attention of security guards,
Casper Chesa and Brian Magada, who were manning the club.
“The accused persons used machetes to hit complainant,
Casper Chasi, several times all over the body thereby causing severe injuries
on the head and left eye. The accused were overpowered by members of public and
were later arrested by police,” he said.
Upon their arrest Murwisi and Mudzingwa were found in
possession of four machetes, two pairs of catapults and two torches.
The gang was quickly linked to a spate of robberies that
occurred in the city in recent weeks.
The State further alleged that on October 15, Murwisi and
Mudzingwa ganged up with their accomplices, who are still at large, and went to
broke into Sydney Mutafani’s house in Greenside.
They stole $735, clothes, blankets and a radio. On the same day at around 2am, the gang also broke into
Dumisani Nyathi’s apartment in the Avenues. They attacked and robbed him of his
property.
On October 26 the duo teamed up with Matibiri and Majamu
and broke into Machikicho Madiki Amato’s house in Murambi.
They stole household property and vanished. The following
night, they returned to the same neighbourhood and forced their way into
Tafadzwa Jaricha’s house where they a television set and $640.
Lucia Chifamba of Murambi also lost household property to
the gang after they broke into her house on November 3.
The court also heard that on November 4, they attacked
Pauline Kurehwatira after breaking into her house in Greenside and got away
with a cellphone, cash and other valuables.
On November 5 between 9pm and 2am, the gang used the same
modus operandi and broke into five houses in Palmerstone.
They went away with household properties worth thousands of
dollars.
A week later, the gang armed itself with machetes and a
pistol and broke into Robert Matsvimbo’s house in Murambi where they stole
household property.
On November 24 at around midnight, the gang pounced on a
house near Mutare Girls High School where they forced open the doors using
machetes.
It is alleged that Mudzingwa raped the woman they found at
the house before his accomplices reportedly took turns to sexually attack her.
That same night the gang proceeded to break into a nearby
house where they took turns to rape another woman.
Murwisi and Mudzingwa are also alleged to have broken into
more houses in the Murambi, Palmerstone and Greenside where they stole an
assortment of household properties.
Weapons banned include machetes, catapults, axes,
knobkerries, swords, knives and daggers. Manica Post
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