Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
A MAN fatally axed his wife’s alleged lover and left the woman for dead after assaulting them while chained to a pole naked.
John Moyo, 34, from Pioneer Village under Chief Jahana in Fort Rixon tortured his wife Sithulile Fefabo, 24, and her boyfriend Busani Mguni, 34, after finding them chatting in the bush.
The furious Moyo allegedly tied the two with a rope, force marched them to his homestead and chained them to a pole.
He assaulted them with an assortment of weapons and wrenched his alleged love rival’s testicles, leading to his death, about an hour later.
Moyo’s wife was rushed to Filabusi General Hospital, where she is reported to be in a critical condition.
Matabeleland South police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Nkosilathi Sibanda, said Moyo was arrested on Tuesday after the Monday midday attack.
“Moyo arrived at his homestead and his wife was not at home. He went to look for her at a nearby borehole and he didn’t find her. He launched a search and found his wife in the company of Mguni in a nearby bush,” Ass Ins Sibanda said.
“He force-marched them to his homestead, tied them to a pole and assaulted them with a metre long chain and attacked them with a rubber stretch and a stick. The two sustained serious injuries. Villagers took Mguni to his homestead, where he died. His wife was rushed to hospital and a report was made to the police.”
Asst Insp Sibanda said Mguni had deep cuts on the forehead and the back of the head.
When a Chronicle news crew arrived at the Mguni homestead on Wednesday, his parents and relatives, who had just buried him, were still trying to come to terms with his death.
His mother, Thandiwe Mguni, said she was still shocked after watching her son die.
“Busani left home in the morning and in a few hours neighbours came rushing and told me that my son had been severely assaulted. I couldn’t get a satisfactory explanation from the neighbours. I followed them to Moyo’s homestead and I couldn’t believe my eyes. My son was bleeding from almost every part of the body and he could hardly talk. He only managed to tell me that Moyo twisted his testicles three times,” said Mguni’s distraught mother.
She said they took him home, where he died about an hour later.
“Moyo was still at the scene and he told me how he tracked them down, force-marched them to his homestead before stripping them naked and torturing them. My son’s body turned black after the beatings and he had a deep cut on the forehead and the back of his head. His wife couldn’t walk and could hardly talk when she was rushed to the hospital,” she said.
Mguni’s brother, Japhet, described how Moyo mercilessly tortured his brother, saying it was unfortunate that a matter that could be resolved amicably turned tragic.
“It’s unfortunate that Moyo decided to take the law into his own hands. This was an issue that could be solved amicably. We’re devastated as a family. The way he assaulted my brother and his wife was clear that his intention was to kill them,” said Japhet.
He said a meeting, to be chaired by the village head, has been scheduled for tomorrow over the matter.
Villagers said they had earlier seen Moyo visiting a traditional healer after committing the crime. Police, however, apprehended him before the traditional healer attended to him.
The villagers expressed concern over the long distance between the village and the Fort Rixon Police Station, saying it was abetting crime in the area.
They appealed for a police base in the village.