Dilan and Melissa Benza were killed at an abandoned
homestead halfway on the direct 4km route between Mbaza Primary School and
their home. Their bodies, with deep neck cuts and throats slit, were dumped in
a disused toilet. Search parties followed a trail of blood found at the
homestead when searching the day after the killings.
While initial reports suggested the bodies were intact,
there are now suspicions that blood was extracted and that some body parts
could have been taken.
Solomon Manyau (48) is a maternal uncle to Dilan, and a
member of Mbaza Primary School’s School Development Committee. He emerged as
the prime suspect because when the searches started on the afternoon of Tuesday
last week he allegedly said he had last seen the children near the Kavhuru
homestead about 4km from the school, and then later changed his story and said
he had last seen them near the school looking for wild fruits, hubva or tsubvu.
Although Manyau was the first to be picked up, police then
wanted to talk to Passmore Sambaza, thought to be the last person seen with the
children. But he allegedly tried to flee the area and was reportedly picked
near London Stores as he was leaving.
Manyau and Sambaza are expected to appear in court today
(Wednesday) for initial remand.
Whoever killed the small children took advantage of the
overgrown surroundings of the abandoned Sambaza homestead.
The tall grass gave the murderers enough cover to execute
their mission without drawing any attention from passers-by.
Although post-mortem results are still to be given,
Melissa’s father, Mr Douglas Benza, believes that the children were killed for
rituals. He said some people who had close scrutiny of the two children’s
bodies moments after being retrieved from the Blair toilet where they had been
thrown, said some body parts were missing.
The agitated community did not mince its words when a visit
was made to the area at the weekend, demanding justice to the perpetrators.
Dilan’s mother, Ms Lydia Manyau, who had emotions choking
her regularly during the 18-minute narration of the events had no kind words to
her relative, Solomon.
“It pains to lose your child in such a cruel manner. On
that day, I woke up early and prepared breakfast and lunchbox for my son. Dilan
and Melissa are cousins and were just inseparable even in death. They would
walk to and from school together.
“There was an SDC meeting at the school, and I also
attended the meeting, but left a bit early. I never harboured thoughts that I
would never see my son again. I went back home to attend to other chores. Being
Grade One children, I expected them to arrive home earlier than other upper
grades, but on that day they were not home on time.
“Around 3pm, I started having a feeling that something was
amiss because the children would usually arrive home around 1pm. I checked with
Melissa’s parents, who stay nearby and they said their daughter was still to
arrive,” she said.
Ms Manyau said they spread word around Sambaza and Mhanda
villages of the missing children. The Benzas are originally from Mhanda
Village, but are currently staying in Sambaza Village.
“As it was getting dark, a neighbour suggested that we
communicate with Solomon Manyau as he was among the last people to leave the
SDC meeting at Mbaza Primary School. When he was phoned, Solomon indicated that
he had last seen the children near the Kavhuru homestead. We combed the area,
but failed to locate the children.
“We even searched the nearby Nhindiwa River to no avail. We
phoned Manyau again and he said he had last seen the children near the school
grounds looking for wild fruits. His narrations were not tallying and this
prompted us to go back to the school.
“Although it was late at night, I braved the darkness to go
and inquire with Dilan’s teacher. We were told that the two had left school
around mid-day and I was left weak-kneed,” said Ms Manyau as emotions got the
better of her.
The search continued the following day on Wednesday and the
search parties were boosted by the seconding of Form Four and Six boys from
Mbaza High School, leading to the discovery of the children in the pit latrine.
Mr Benza said although he is still to come face-to-face
with the suspects following their arrest, he will never forgive them.
“I cannot fathom my daughter being brutally killed. When
her body was retrieved from the pit latrine, she had dust all over showing that
she had tried to resist, but was overpowered.
“I think Solomon’s inconsistent answers when he was phoned
was a decoy to keep the search parties away from the crime scene as they were
busy concealing evidence. We are also being told that there was a speeding car
that was spotted around Sadziwa area around 10pm as we were searching for the
children,” said Mr Benza.
“We are being told that death sentence was outlawed, but
these people do not have a place in our society. Once convicted, they should be
relocated to another area because I cannot continue interacting with them. They
should also undergo the same pain that our children went through before they
met their fate,” he said.
Mr Benza added: “I cannot believe it that at this time and
age there are people who still believe in ritual killings. Why did they target
our two innocent children. My heart is also bleeding as I recently lost another
child in unclear circumstances. The child just complained of stomach pain and
died before being attended to at the clinic.” Herald
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