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The demand comes amid revelations that police have since  picked four suspects in connection with the death of Lawrence Chaitezvo (32) who was found dead by the road side in a suspected murder case.

Four suspects, brothers, Brighton and Charles Mugwisi, their uncle Munyaradzi Mugwisi and Philip Chitera all from Mwedzi village, Headman Tibugare, Shurugwi, are in police custody assisting with investigations.
Chaitezvo’s body remains uncollected at Shurugwi District Hospital mortuary where it was taken to by the police after his relatives had initially dumped it at the Mugwisi family demanding 15 beasts and $1 000 cash before burial.

The Mugwisi and Chitera families are also said to be experiencing mysterious happenings following the suspected killing of Chaitezvo who is from the neighbouring Jhamba village.
A Chaitezvo family spokesperson Mrs Mable Tsikai said the family was now demanding 15 beasts from each of the four suspects after the Mugwisi family reneged on their earlier commitment.
“When this tragic incident occurred, we engaged the Mugwisi family when only one of their sons was arrested in connection with the killing of our son. By then only Brighton Mugwisi was in police custody but as the bereaved family we knew that Brighton committed the alleged crime together with his brother Charles, their uncle, Munyaradzi and a friend, Philip Chitera,” said Mrs Tsikai.

She said after the alleged killing of their son, they engaged the two Mugwisi brothers’ father, Mr Frank Mugwisi and he agreed that they would be compensated with two beasts and $1 000, which the bereaved family had spent on ferrying the body from Shurugwi to Bulawayo for a post-mortem and back.
“We know each other very well because we are neighbours and when we initially met at Headman Tibugare’s traditional court, Mr Frank Mugwisi had pleaded with us and we reduced the number of beasts from the initial 15 to only two beasts. We had also agreed that Mr Frank Mugwisi should pay the $1 000 which was the amount we spent to take our son’s body to Bulawayo for a post-mortem,” she said.

Ms Tsikai said after everything had been agreed before Headman Tibugare, Mr Frank Mugwisi later visited the police and reported the matter.
“The police then came and collected the body which we had left at Mr Frank Mugwisi’s homestead before our initial engagement and took it to Shurugwi Hospital. What shocked us most was that the same police officers at Chachacha Police Base who had initially indicated that they did not have transport to take Lawrence’s body to Bulawayo for a post-mortem quickly brought the vehicle and took the body to Shurugwi mortuary,” said Mrs Tsikai.

She said after this development, Mr Frank Mugwisi became non-committal and instead informed them that he no longer had the promised money because he had paid some money to the police officers. Mrs Tsika said the family was angered by Mr Mugwisi’s sudden U-turn which showed he was not negotiating in good faith hence the decision to revert to the original demand of 15 beasts from each of the four suspects.

“This is our position now and we will only bury our son when these demands have been met. The deceased who left behind a wife and four children was the family breadwinner,” said Mrs Tsikai.
Meanwhile, there are reports of mysterious happenings since the death of Chaitezvo. The Mugwisi family is reported to have lost a two- year-old daughter who just collapsed and died soon after the police visited the Mugwisi family to collect Chaitezvo’s body which had been dumped at the family homestead.

Another of the suspects’ relatives’ homestead was last week gutted by a mysterious fire.
A woman who is alleged to be among those who witnessed the deceased being assaulted is reported to have also collapsed and died a few days after the incident.

Ms Tsikai confirmed the mysterious incidents but said the family had nothing to do with the strange happenings.

“As the bereaved family, we have nothing to do with the mysterious happenings befalling the families of the suspects and other people but what we believe is that the now deceased will fight his own war. He is the one who knows the people who killed him,” she said.
Efforts to get a comment from the Mugwisi family were fruitless yesterday.