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Chronicle Reporter 

AN Esigodini couple was reportedly gruesomely within two weeks of each other with Nsezi residents fingering elements linked to the ruling Zanu-PF as being responsible for both murders.

Salathiel Dube who was a known MDC activist in the district, was discovered mutilated with some of his body parts missing, on 27 December 2008 with his MDC membership card reportedly partially burnt just next to his body, leading to relatives suspecting that the murder was politically motivated.

Mr Dube was the focal person in the district, responsible for party membership recruitment and is also said to have been part of the people that played a leading role in mobilizing people to protest against the government in the aftermath of the Presidential elections.

Three weeks after the death of Dube, on 17 January 2009, his wife Eagle Khumalo’s body was also discovered murdered in almost similar circumstances, a situation which has led the couple’s relatives to raise a red flag regarding both murders

In an interview with this publication, Dube’s brother, Patson Dube said as a family they were in search of answers on what happened to the couple, saying they now feared that any one of them could also be murdered in the same scenario.

“My brother Salathiel was a family man who was also dedicated to providing for his family. He was also a community leader who was very vocal in criticizing the government, hence his role within the ranks of MDC.

“What happened is that he suddenly went missing for a couple of days, we tried to engage the police to help us locate him but they did not help much saying that there was no proof that she was missing. To our horror, his body was later discovered with stab wounds all over and it was also mutilated, his MDC membership card was also found partially burnt next to his body,” said Patson.

“As a family we immediately raised this with the police that this was clearly a politically motivated murder. His wife and family were very devastated but we managed to bury him. To our shock, three weeks after Salathiel’s death, his wife’s body was also discovered murdered in almost a similar fashion, which is why we have decided to approach the media because clearly our family is being targeted,” added Patson.

He revealed that they had since advised the couple’s son, Eric Dube to go into hiding because the murderers could also target him.

“It is clear that the fight is against the family therefore Eric can be next which is why we have advised him to go into hiding. It is a very sad case which we are appealing to the authorities to intervene,” said Patson.