A 34-year-old Bindura man stabbed and killed his brother with a knife for converting to Christianity, a move he said would cause misfortunes in their family.
The cold-blooded murder occurred at Chiveso Village, under Chief Musana in Mashonaland Central Province on September 12, 2010 when the murderer, Masimba Juru, stabbed his brother, Chakanetsa, following a heated argument after the now-deceased backtracked on consulting traditional healers, sorcerers and prophets.
Their feud came about after Chakanetsa’s daughter, Shamiso, died under mysterious circumstances in 2008.
Following Shamiso’s death, the Juru family consulted sorcerers, prophets and traditional healers and Chakanetsa was also party to the exercise.
However, two years later Chakanetsa decided to convert to Christianity and dumped the family’s traditional beliefs, a move which did not go down well with Masimba who feared avenging spirits would continue to haunt their family.
On the fateful day, Masimba went to a beerhall where he drank beer and confided in one Isaac Museza that he intended to deal with Chakanetsa over his refusal to consult sorcerers, traditional healers or prophets. The court heard that Masimba initially went to Chakanetsa’s homestead looking for his brother, but failed to locate him as he was said to have gone to a nearby school.
Later in the day, Masimba followed his brother and met him along the way on his way back in the company of his wife, Stella Ruzvidzo.
The court heard that a heated argument ensued between the two brothers prompting Masimba to pull out a knife with which he stabbed Chakanetsa once in the chest before drawing it out.
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After the attack, Chakanetsa ran towards his homestead and Masimba pursued him for a while but later turned to his victim’s wife who also ran away and sought refuge at Museza’s homestead. The court heard that Chakanetsa collapsed and died just as he reached his homestead and the matter was reported to the police, leading to Masimba’s arrest.
Masimba appeared before Harare High Court judge Justice Chinembiri Bhunu charged with murder and was convicted of murder with actual intent.
Justice Bhunu is on Friday next week set to pass sentence after prosecutor Benson Taruvinga and Masimba’s lawyer Francis Katsande yesterday addressed the court on the question of extenuating circumstances.
