Chiredzi man killed over accusations of mubobobo

Zim Now Writer

In a shockingly bizarre development, a man from Chiredzi in Masvingo Province was a fortnight ago gruesomely murdered and his head was crushed with an axe handle by a fellow villager who had sensationally claimed he dreamt of the now-deceased using mubobobo on him.

Mubobobo is a supernatural way of having sex, particularly with women, without their consent.

So grisly was the incident that pieces of his brain were left splattered on the ground. Although the real motive behind the brutal axing of Henry Manyara, 71, from Village 7, Ward 32, Chiredzi North by Evans Bhazela, 25, is yet to be established, according to a source from the area who claimed to have intimate details of the incident, he was killed on suspicion that he possessed mubobobo.

Manyara was brutally murdered in the presence of his wife, who watched helplessly as Bhazela repeatedly struck his head with an axe handle until it split into pieces.

He was buried on Saturday last week after his family was reportedly paid seven head of cattle by Bhazela’s family, claiming it was payment only for the retrieval of the body from the mortuary for burial and to cover funeral costs.

Bhazela’s family is yet to pay an additional 35 head of cattle as compensation for Manyara’s callous murder.

“It seems Bhazela had a long-standing dispute with the now-deceased whom he once worked for. On the fateful day, he went to his homestead and accused him of possessing mubobobo.

“What happened is that he went to his homestead and found his wife alone at home and was told the now-deceased had gone to the fields. He then waited for some time and seeing that he was taking long to come back Bhazela left. He came back later and found the now-deceased at home.

“Although he didn’t state the motive behind the grisly murder, he said investigations from some neighbours revealed that Bhazela was alleged to have suspected the now deceased of bewitching him.

“We are yet to establish the reasons behind this brutal killing which left everyone in the village shocked.

“We just heard that this man arrived at the now-deceased’s homestead at around 1pm and was told that he wasn’t there and was busy at his fields. He came back again at around 3pm and was told he was not yet back,” said a source.

He said when he came again for the third time at around 6pm that is when he found him on his way from the fields in the company of his son-in-law.

He then told him there was something he wanted to talk to him about, just the two of them. He insisted that the matter needed only the two of them. Sensing danger, the now-deceased refused before he sent his son-in-law to call the village head so that Bhazela could tell his story in his presence.

“After his son-in-law had just left, Bhazela took an axe handle and started hitting the now-deceased on the head. He repeatedly struck him until his skull split into pieces. When some people who were nearby attending a church service heard his wife wailing, they quickly came but a violent Bhazela chased after them.

“His wife continued watching helplessly as her husband was being pounded repeatedly on the head by Bhazela who also threatened to kill her if she tried to intervene. When he came back from chasing away the church members he continued pounding it until the skull broke into pieces,” said Musepa.

Neighbours, who later attended the scene, reported the matter to ZRP Mkwasine who attended to it and arrested Bhazela.