Gwapedza Julius Takaindisa, of Nhema village, was burnt
beyond recognition during the incident.
Mashonaland East provincial acting police spokesperson
Assistant Inspector Misheck Denhere confirmed the incident and urged the public
to desist from starting veld fires without following safety protocols.
“I confirm the death of an elderly man in Sadza in a veld
fire. The suspect, who started the fire, has since been arrested and charged
with culpable homicide. We urge the public to desist from starting veld fires
without following the necessary steps, among them construction of fire guards,”
he said.
According to the police, on September 17 at around 10am,
the deceased went to his mother-in-law’s memorial service in the company of his
nephews.
It is reported that Takaindisa went into a nearby bush to
relieve himself, but was trapped and burnt by the veld fire.
A female juvenile reportedly saw Takaindisa battling to
douse the fire and sent a text message to village head Cannan Mukondo (55)
detailing what she had seen.
The text message did not reach Mukondo on time as his
mobile phone was offline.
The deceased’s nephews looked for him after realising that
he had taken a long time to return to the event.
The village head then informed his relatives of the text
message, and they rushed to the scene, where they discovered his charred
remains.
They identified him through his national identity card
before a police report was made.
After investigations, it was discovered that the fire was
started by Elliot Mukono (50) of Mubani village, who was clearing a family
graveyard, about 2km from the homestead where the memorial service was being
held. Newsday
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