Hove’s father,
Chikauriso Hove, has engaged the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) to
demand clarity over the circumstances surrounding her death. The rights group
has since written to ZRP Bulawayo Central, giving police a seven-day ultimatum
to provide tangible details about the incident. Copies of the letter were also
sent to the Officer in Charge at Pumula Police Station, the Officer Commanding
Bulawayo Province, ZRP Commissioner-General Stephen Mutamba, and Home Affairs
Minister Kazembe Kazembe.
In a statement,
ZLHR confirmed they were assisting the family in their quest for justice. “We
are assisting the family of Detective Constable Cassandra Hove, a slain ZRP
officer, who died recently while reportedly pursuing armed robbers, which is
protesting against the clandestine and unprofessional manner in which the death
of the police officer is being handled,” ZLHR said.
Hove accused
the police of failing to provide the family with official updates, forcing them
to rely on second-hand information.
The family
recently learned that a police officer had allegedly confessed to killing
Cassandra. “We are greatly concerned about allegations that she may have met
her fate at the hands of one of her colleagues,” Hove stated.
Constable
Nomore Muradzikwa (37), stationed at Hillside Police Station, who reportedly
confessed to fatally shooting Hove appeared before Bulawayo Magistrate Maxwell
Ncube on Tuesday facing a murder charge.
Muradzikwa and
Hove were part of team tracking down a suspected robber in Pumula South.
According to
the State, Muradzikwa, armed with a CZ pistol, fired at robbery suspect Fikile
Ncube, hitting his elbow. The bullet ricocheted, fatally striking Hove in the
chest.
ZLHR also
raised alarm over the actions of Cassandra’s colleague, Lethokuhle Sibanda, who
reportedly completed forms authorising a post-mortem without consulting the
family. “The family is alarmed at the allegations raised about the conduct of
one Lethokuhle Sibanda, who had reportedly completed some forms authorising the
carrying out of a post-mortem on the body of the deceased person without
consulting his family,” ZLHR said.
The family
further alleged that Sibanda visited Cassandra’s home after her death,
demanding details about her property and mobile phones from her children.
“After Cassandra had been shot, the same Sibanda visited the deceased person’s
residence, where she found the late law enforcement agent’s children and
demanded certain information pertaining to her residential properties and
demanded her mobile phones, but her children refused to comply after getting
guidance from their relatives,” ZLHR noted.
Hove also
claimed that Sibanda had received R3000 from Luveve residents as a funeral
contribution but did not hand it over to the family.
Additionally,
the family was not officially informed when a suspect, Fikile Ncube, was
arrested in connection with Cassandra’s death. “The family had also received
information that a suspect, named Fikile Ncube, had been arrested by ZRP
officers on the night when Cassandra died in connection to her death, but this
information was not officially communicated to the family or his relatives,”
ZLHR said.
During a
meeting with ZRP officials on 8 March, the family was told that Cassandra was
shot with a police-issued firearm, contradicting earlier accounts.
“On 8 March
2025, Hove said he attended a meeting together with his relatives with the
Officer In Charge of CID Homicide in Bulawayo and other ZRP officials, where he
was informed that the preliminary findings were that his daughter had been shot
by a police issued firearm contrary to what the family had been told before and
efforts to get full information as to what could have happened to his daughter
were futile as the ZRP officials were not forthcoming,” ZLHR said.
After
struggling to obtain full details, the family reluctantly agreed to bury
Cassandra in Mberengwa, with police promising to keep them updated. However,
after receiving no further communication, they filed a murder case at ZRP
Pumula Police Station on 13 March. CITE
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