Ms Sitshengiwe Moyo (42) from Nyamandlovu is said to have
hired three illegal gold panners to kill her husband, Arnold Moyo (31). The
incident is said to have happened on July 31 at their homestead in Harrisvale
plots in Chief Deli’s area.
Ms Moyo had initially reported at Nyamandlovu Police
Station that her husband had been murdered by three men who had visited them at
home before they vanished.
She is said to have told the cops that the men were her
husband’s friends while the husband had told villagers a day before he was
murdered that they were his wife’s relatives.
It is said that police arrested the three suspects in
Bulawayo last weekend and invited Ms Moyo to the police station on Monday to
assist with investigations.
She is said to have reported at the police station with a
relative and during cross-examination, she requested to be excused as she
wanted to relieve herself.
Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Glory
Banda said after leaving the police station, she drank a poisonous substance
that led to her death.
“What happened is that this woman was there when the
suspects were being interrogated in connection with the murder of her husband
in Bulawayo on Monday, August 9. As the process of investigations progressed,
she requested to take leave saying she wanted to relieve herself. She was let
go and later she called her sister who accompanied her to the police station
and had remained at the CID Homicide offices telling her that she was not
feeling well and would not be returning,” said Insp Banda.
“The investigating officers acted on the same information
and went to the home where she lives in Bulawayo and discovered that she was
sick. She had taken a poisonous substance leading to her death. There was no
suicide note indicating that she had really hired the hitmen who killed her
husband, but from the suggestions and inferences drawn, indications show that
she might have hired the hitmen to kill the husband.”
Insp Banda said the three suspects are illegal gold miners
and have been arrested in connection with Mr Moyo’s murder. A Chronicle news
crew on Thursday visited the deceased couple’s homestead in Nyamandlovu and
found it deserted.
Neighbours spoke in hushed voices as they expressed shock
over the incident. Some of them had just received news that the woman had
committed suicide.
The vice-chairperson of Vukuzenzele Burial Society Ms
Sithethelelo Ndlovu said Ms Moyo was a member and they were shocked to learn
that she had committed suicide.
Ms Ndlovu said when she left her homestead she was mourning
and said she was on her way to bury her husband at his rural home in Binga.
“So, we are surprised and shocked to hear that both of them
have died. We are even stunned to learn that uMaMoyo is said to have committed
suicide. We are also shocked to hear claims that she could have hired men to
kill her husband. We had seen those men who we were initially told by Arnold
that they were his wife’s relatives.
But when he was dead, she told us that they were Arnold’s
friends who had come to take him so that he would join them in gold panning activities
in Gwanda,” said Ms Ndlovu.
She said while it has become known that the couple was
having domestic problems, they never expected that it would end in tragedy. Ms
Ndlovu said Ms Moyo’s conflicting statements could have sold her out.
Another villager who declined to be named said the fact
that the woman was older than her husband could have escalated their problems. She
said she married the youthful man who was employed as her herd boy.
“Initially, they were a very happy couple and they were always
moving together. But of late it seems the relationship got sour to an extent
that Arnold moved out of their home. But he returned and we would hear that
they fought and so forth. UMaMoyo had a fractured arm as a result,” she said.
Another villager, Ms Thandekile Mpofu, said they had learnt
with sadness that a relationship could be so broken that couples would end up
hiring killers to murder a loved one.
“We are hearing that she hired three men to kill her
husband. It’s quite unfortunate, we never expected it. We are even saddened by
the fact that she has also died. We thought that she had just gone to bury her
husband at his rural home in Binga but to learn that she committed suicide is
shocking.
However, I suspect that their problems could have been
caused by their age difference. Arnold was quite young, she had grown up
children yet Arnold had none. I think this is what caused their marital
problems. But they were legally married and as a community we saw them as
such,” said Ms Mpofu.
Domestic violence cases and Gender Based Violence cases are
said to have drastically increased following the Covid-19 pandemic where
couples are said to be spending more time together.
A recent survey revealed that most men are victims of
physical, emotional and economic abuse among spouses.
Insp Banda said while it was normal for couples to have
differences, they should aim to solve them amicably or seek counselling
services. Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment