The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter
A YOUTHFUL prison officer was allegedly murdered and his body was dumped along the railway line where it was crushed into pieces by a goods train in the wee hours of last Saturday.
The suspected murder of Tapiwa Mutyasira (29) in Chikanga 2, Mutare, left many unanswered questions.
Mutyasira who had been recently transferred from Mutare to Harare had come back home when he met his fate.
He was buried at his rural Buhera home on Monday.
It is alleged that his body was crushed by a Harare-bound goods train at the 13km peg around 2.25am last week on Saturday.
Manicaland provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Nobert Muzondo confirmed the incident, adding that investigations are in progress.
He appealed to those with information of what happened to Mutyasira to contact the police.
Inspector Muzondo said Mutyasira was last seen on March 3 when he escorted his wife, who is also a prison officer, to work using public transport.
He had promised to come back and fetch her in the afternoon when she knocked off.
After knocking off around 1.30pm, his wife made numerous calls on Mutyasira’s cellphone and they went unanswered.
Mutyasira did not show up either, prompting his wife to go home on her own.
“At around 2.25am last week on Saturday, Mr Livingstone Masaiti, a goods train engineman, was travelling to Harare in the company of Mr Edmore Marumure and when they approached the 13km peg, they suddenly saw an object lying on the railway line.
“The train could not stop immediately and therefore it crushed and dragged the object for a few metres before coming to a halt. Mr Marumure disembarked to investigate and discovered that it was a human body,” said Inspector Muzondo.
The goods train crew informed their superiors at the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) in Mutare and the Chikanga Police Station was contacted. The police attended the scene, together with CID homicide officials.
“The left leg and hand were crushed, and the deceased had two cuts on the forehead. The stomach was also crushed and the intestines were protruding. Police attended the scene, retrieved the body and conveyed it to Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital for a post-mortem. We are treating it as suspected murder,” said Inspector Muzondo.
The deceased’s father and Mutare District Area Prosecutor, Mr Tirivanhu Mutyasira, is grief stricken and struggling to accept his son’s death.
“Is it true that my son is gone just like that? This is unacceptable. Was this God’s will? It is painful, he was my eldest son. He last visited me at my office last week on Friday and we shared a lighter moment. Little did I know that was our last moment together. We have no clue about his death, but the reports that are coming out are so devastating. Sadly we cannot reverse it,” he said.
Mutyasira is survived by a wife and two children.
