The late
youthful prison officer was murdered on March 4, 2023.
Three accused
persons — Innocent Itai Chikwengo (38), Brighton Gowero (29), and Takunda
Makoni (21) — were arrested in connection with Mutyasira’s murder. Justice
Muzenda convicted Gowero and Makoni of murder after overwhelming evidence
linking them to the commission of the offence was adduced in court. However,
their co-accused, Chikwengo, was acquitted after the State failed to link him
to the commission of the offence.
Several
witnesses testified during the trial, linking Gowero and Makoni to the fatal
attack of Mutyasira.
Justice Muzenda
ruled that the prosecution, led by Mr Malvern Musarurwa, had proved its case
beyond reasonable doubt against the two, and sentenced them to 45 years in jail
each.
Justice Muzenda
did not suspend any part of the sentence, noting that the convicts’ age had
complicated the sentence variation, and he considered them fortunate to have
escaped a life sentence.
Chikwengo,
Gowero, and Makoni were facing murder charges in violation of Section 47(1) of
the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (Chapter 9:23), which
criminalises the unlawful and intentional killing of another person.
Mr Musarurwa
told the court that between March 3 and 4, 2023, the three men, acting in
concert with another suspect still at large, attacked Mutyasira at the 13,5km
peg along the Mutare-Harare railway line in Chikanga.
The court heard
that the assailants used an unknown object to assault Mutyasira, before dumping
his body on the railway line.
The men acted
with the intent to kill or, at the very least, in full awareness that their
actions could result in death.
Mutyasira
sustained severe injuries and died as a result of the assault.
Mr Musarurwa
also said after the fatal assault, the convicts stole his two cellphones,
before dumping his body along the Mutare-Harare railway line near Chikanga,
where his remains were later run over by a goods train, further mutilating the
body.
A post-mortem
examination conducted by Dr Mellan Chibwowa at Victoria Chitepo Provincial
Hospital revealed that Mutyasira died from polytrauma, consistent with multiple
severe injuries sustained during the attack.
Mutyasira was
survived by a wife and two children.
The deceased’s
father and Mutare District Area Prosecutor, Mr Tirivanhu Mutyasira, welcomed
the ruling, saying it brings closure to his grief stricken and struggling
family.
“We have been
following the trial, and it is true that two of them were convicted for 45
years, while the other one was acquitted. At least justice has been served, and
the criminals’ conviction has brought closure to my family.
“There was a
lot of confusion, as some were of the opinion that Tapiwa may have committed
suicide. This conviction after a full trial has set the record straight, and we
can now find closure as a family. It has been a traumatic experience,” he said.
Manica Post
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