Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nicholas Ndou yesterday found a man who chopped his wife’s body into pieces not guilty of murder on grounds that he was mentally unstable and referred him to Mlondolozi Special Mental Institution for treatment.
Report by Silas Nkala, Staff reporter
Givemore Nyazvigo (31), of Hillside in Bulawayo, is alleged to have killed his wife, Lydia Sibanda (25) before chopping her body into pieces and dumping the parts at different locations in the city.
The State established that the incident occurred at the couple’s Hillside home on August 13 last year. Nyazvigo in his defence pleaded to be insane saying he was not in his sober and sound senses when he committed the offence.
His lawyer, Kucaca Phulu last week applied for Nyazvigo’s acquittal on the grounds that he was mentally unstable when he committed the offence. State counsel Angeline Munyariwa concurred with the defence lawyer’s submissions.
She said it would be competent for the court to deal with Nyazvigo in terms of Section 29 of the Mental Health Act. Justice Ndou yesterday handed down the ruling on the matter.
“The accused is found not guilty of murder on condition of insanity. It is, therefore, ordered that he be returned to Khami Prison for transfer to Mlondolozi Special Institution for treatment in terms of Section 29 (a) of the Mental Health Act Chapter 15:12,” ruled Justice Ndou.
Charges were that on the fateful night, Nyazvigo had a misunderstanding with his wife and the quarrel degenerated into a fight. Nyazvigo armed himself with an axe and struck Sibanda once on the head, killing her instantly.
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It was the State case that Nyazvigo kept the body at home for three days before mutilating it and put the parts in sacks and plastic bags. Nyazvigo then dumped them in different parts of the city.
He was arrested after he told his relatives about the gruesome murder and a police report was made. He was detained at Mlondolozi Psychiatric Centre following the incident.
