A 22-year-old Chivi man allegedly killed his younger brother in cold blood in a ritual to get rich and find a beautiful woman to marry.
Ezekiel Mabhiza dragged Israel Mabhiza (12) of Maduveko Village under Headman Madamombe to a stream, about one kilometre from their homestead in the dead of the night on Sunday, where he bashed his skull with a mattock.
Ezekiel, sources close to investigations said, developed cold feet and failed to cut out parts from his brother’s body. He allegedly wrapped the body in a comforter, dug a shallow grave where he buried the body but quickly exhumed it.
Ezekiel allegedly carried the body for seven kilometres to Mhandamabwe Business Centre where he dumped it in a public toilet.
Pre-school pupils, accompanied by their teacher, ran out screaming on Monday at around 8AM when they saw the bloodied body.
Acting Masvingo police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Kudakwashe Dehwa confirmed the incident and said Ezekiel was arrested on Monday after he had escaped to a hideout in another area within the same district.
We received a report of suspected murder where a man from Chivi’s Headman Madamombe area killed his younger brother purporting that he had been instructed to do so by his ancestors in order to get rich and find a woman to marry. The suspect was arrested after he had escaped to another village and is assisting with investigations,” said Asst Insp Dehwa.
He said Brilliant Child Pre-school teacher Ms Siyamukhele Mhere (25) of Mhandamabwe Business Centre accompanied her pupils to the toilet. She stumbled on Israel’s body wrapped in a comforter.
“A report was made to the police at Mhandamabwe Base who attended the scene and took the body to Chivi District Hospital mortuary for post-mortem.
“The body had two deep cuts on the head and on the back of the head and a blood-stained mattock was recovered at the suspect’s homestead. He was arrested at about 12PM on Monday in Hapazari Village under Headman Madyangove where he had fled to,” he said.
Police said Mabhiza said his ancestors came to him in a vision and instructed him to kill his brother to get rich.
He allegedly said the ancestors told him how to kill his sibling and the rituals he had to perform with the body to get instant riches and a beautiful wife.
The ruthless killing occurred at a time when the country has been gripped by an unfolding story of a suspected serial killer in Bulawayo who allegedly killed two of his friends and buried them in shallow graves.
Rodney Tongai Jindu (25), who is on remand for the murders of his friends Mboneli Joko Ncube (30) and Cyprian Kudzurunga (28), was allegedly hired by a South African inyanga to kill someone with a Ncube surname for body parts to be used in rituals