Zimpapers Logo

Patience Mutsiwi Midlands Reporter
A JILTED taxi driver will languish in prison for the rest of his life for the murder of his live-in girlfriend.

Charles Chifamba, 31, of Mkoba 17 in Gweru, also gouged out Fadzisai Leonorah Chipfunde’s eyes with a screw driver before attempting suicide by gulping rat poison.

Justice Martin Makonese of the Bulawayo High Court, sitting at the Gweru High Court Circuit with assessors Chipo Junia Baye and Wellington Matemba, found Chifamba guilty of murder with actual intent.

Chifamba, Justice Makonese said, deliberately stabbed Chipfunde to death with a knife after the latter had ditched him because he was abusive.

The taxi-driver had pleaded not guilty.

He said he only drank rat poison in his girlfriend’s presence and passed out only to wake up under police guard in hospital accused of murdering her.

Justice Makonese dismissed his claims saying Chifamba had no respect for women and the sanctity of human life hence life imprisonment would be suitable.

He said Chifamba had planned the murder hoping to take his own life after the act.

Justice Makonese said Chifamba armed himself with a knife and screw driver before buying a rat killer well aware of his evil intentions.

“The way you killed the deceased shows that you had planned the act. You tied her hands on the back and you also tied her neck with a cloth before you stabbed her twice with a knife on her chest,” he said.

The judge said society should not view women as their possession as they were human beings who needed love and respect.

“You said you loved Chipfunde so much to an extent that you found it difficult to survive after she rejected you, so why didn’t you kill yourself and leave her? Women have rights and they should be respected but you took her as your property. You’re therefore sentenced to life in prison,” said Justice Makonese.

Prosecuting, Tafadzwa Mupariwa, told the court that on November 12, 2014, Chifamba left his place of residence and visited Chipfunde who was now staying with her brother following their break-up.

Chifamba armed himself with a home-made knife, a screw driver and rat poison before confronting Chipfunde demanding to know why she had terminated their love affair.

The court heard that Chifamba tied Chipfunde’s hands from the back with a cloth before strangling her with a wrapping cloth.

He stabbed her twice in the chest with a knife leading to her death, before he gorged her eyes out.