MILLICENT HUNGWE
GUTU-IN AN act that shook the Mukaro community in Chief Gutu’s area, Tongai Chirume (32) gruesomely murdered his sister Mercy Chirume (33) after raping her and her daughter Isabel Fadzai Machote (4) and threw her into a well.
Tongai was arrested on March 18 by Masvingo Central police and is detained at Mpandawana.
According to sources, Tongai had an argument with Mercy on March 1 at around 9pm, over vegetables which he accused the deceased of having taken them from his garden.
In a fit of rage, Tongai went to Mercy’s homestead, where he allegedly raped her once without protection, while her daughter, Isabel watched in horror.
Tongai took out an okapi knife and slit Mercy’s throat open, killing her instantly while her daughter watched in owe.
Tongai went on to ask the four year old if she knew him, to which she answered yes, he felt the hapless young girl would narrate all that happened and raped her before throwing her into a 1.5m well alive.
The following morning the remorseless Tongai came back to Mercy’s homestead to check if Isabel had actually died from drowning in the well.
The body of the first deceased was discovered by a neighbor who was checking after she had not seen her the whole day, who alerted other villagers.
The police were notified, and they soon found Isabel’s floating body in the well.
Tongai fled firstly to Mhondoro Ngezi, where he worked at a farm with his brother.
However, when he overheard his brother discussing the crime on the cellphone with relatives, Tongai fled again, this time to village 1A Droomore under Chief Chikwanda in Masvingo rural.
He managed to find work there and worked at the farm for 5 days before being caught by the police, who were tipped off by locals about a suspicious stranger in the area.
Tongai is facing two counts of rape and murder and is set to appear at Gutu Magistrate Court.
