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Leonard Ncube , Victoria Falls Reporter
A LUPANE man went to a homestead in Gomoza where he asked for food while claiming to be hungry, but suddenly pounced on a girl and slit her throat before stabbing her several times in the stomach.

The suspect whose age was not given, has been identified as Lucky Ncube from Gomoza.

Villagers effected a citizen’s arrest on Ncube hours later after circulating a description of him on WhatsApp.

Chronicle could not get the girl’s details and age as family members were not reachable, while police were not available for comment.
Sources close to the matter, however, said Ncube was not related to the family.

He asked for food and after eating, Ncube allegedly approached children who were playing in the yard and grabbed one of them before slitting her throat with a knife.

The other children ran away in terror to inform elders who found the girl bleeding before she died.

Neighbours ran after the suspect and apprehended him, but he escaped and fled as they led him to St Paul’s Police Base.

The family quickly wrote a message on WhatsApp and sent it to Zanu-PF District Co-ordinating Committee chair for Lupane, Cde Permanent Sibanda, who circulated it on various WhatsApp groups with a description of the suspect.

The suspect was apprehended at Lupane Centre hours later and handed over to the police.

The girl’s uncle, Mr Lungisani Tshuma, was said to have gone to St Luke’s Hospital in the same district yesterday to visit a family member who is hospitalised, but his daughter, Thubelihle, who answered the phone, confirmed the incident which occurred on Saturday afternoon.

“Yes, it’s true but I don’t have much details. My father went to St Luke’s but police took my cousin’s body and arrested the suspect. She had seven wounds on the throat and intestines were also protruding,” said Thubelihle.

She said the suspect was not familiar to her and her family as he was a stranger.

Cde Sibanda thanked the community for swiftly responding to the matter.
“I got a message from a relative of the girl and sent it to various groups in Lupane. We are still trying to understand the motive behind slaying of a young innocent girl although we are told the suspect could be mentally ill,” said Cde Sibanda.

“The suspect was apprehended by the community and as they led him across Shangani River to St Paul’s Police Base he escaped and fled. However, using the information we had dispatched, he was quickly spotted and was re-arrested in Lupane.”

Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Glory Banda could not confirm the matter as he was out of office. — @ncubeleon