The ManicaPost
Luthando Mapepa and Freedom Mutanda
DEPRIVING her family of a chicken meal on Unity Day holiday cost a Chipinge girl (13) her life after she was beaten to death by her father who accused her of negligently losing a US$5 note she had been given to buy the cutlets.
Shadreck Mufuka (44) of Nyamanga Compound, Southdown Estate, sought to conceal the murder by telling the girl’s mother that she died after being attacked by unseen things.
Mufuka has since appeared in court charged with the alleged murder of his daughter, Choice, on December 22.
He was not asked to plead when he appeared before Chipinge magistrate, Mrs Elizabeth Hanzi and was advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
Mufuka was remanded to January 12 for routine remand.
Choice was given the money by her stepmother, Sharon Mungofa, to buy chicken cutlets at the nearby shops, but later returned home empty-handed claiming that she had lost the money.
Appearing for the State, Mr Timothy Katsande, said: “On December 22, Choice was sent by her stepmother with a US$5 note to buy chicken cutlets. She later came back home around 7pm without the chicken cutlets and informed Mungofa that she had lost the money.
“Mungofa informed her husband that Choice had lost the money. An enraged Mufuka locked Choice in the dining room and went outside to get a switch from a peach tree in their backyard. When he came back, he assaulted Choice all over the body with the switch until she became unconscious .”
Mr Katsande said after assaulting the teenager, Mufuka shared the same room with her for the night, while his wife and other child slept in the bedroom.
“When Mufuka woke up the following morning, he noticed that his daughter had died. He informed Mungofa what had happened and the two agreed to inform Choice’s mother, Loveness Matengana,’’ he said.
Matengana was Mufuka’s first wife before they separated.
“Matengana, who remarried, came to Mufuka’s homestead to find out what had happened. She saw Mufuka preparing a coffin in preparation for Choice’s burial.
“Mufuka told Matengana that Choice was beaten to death by unseen forces. Upon viewing her daughter’s body, Mufuka discovered that it was swollen and had bruises all over. Mufuka was evasive on the cause of Choice’s death. Choice’s head was also deformed. The wall in the room where Choice’s body was in was covered with fresh blood. This left Matengana with suspicions that Choice’s head could have been bashed against the wall culminating in her death,” said Mr Katsande.
Matengana made a police report at Chipinge Rural Junction Gate Base leading to Mufuka’s arrest.
Choice’s body was ferried to Chipinge District Hospital mortuary for post-mortem.
