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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
The case of a Beitbridge businesswoman accused of hiring four men, including South Africans, to kidnap her married boyfriend has been struck off remand. This was after the State failed to provide a trial date. Tapiwa Priscillah Hillary Moyo stood accused of hiring the quartet, who allegedly kidnapped and thoroughly beat up Gibson Karonga after he refused to divorce his wife. They took away his car.

The gang is said to have bundled Karonga into the trunk of a Toyota Mark X vehicle when he was dropping off Moyo at her house.

Beitbridge resident magistrate Mr Langton Mukwengi removed the case from further remand after the State led by Mr Oswell Arufandi failed to dispense the trial in conformity with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.

Allegations are that Moyo, who co-owns Kaomogkelo Clearing Services with her sister, was in a relationship with Karonga for the past two years.

Karonga was one of the senior managers at the company.

The State further alleged that the woman had been forcing Karonga to leave his lawfully wedded wife without success. The accused allegedly hired four men on December 5 last year to kidnap Karonga, whom they bundled into the trunk of his car and drove him to an unknown area in the bush.

Upon getting to the bush, they allegedly tortured him for seven hours, threatening to burn him alive if he refused to give in to Moyo’s demands.

During the process, the woman ordered Karonga to hand over the vehicle and papers of a house he built during their happy days, claiming that she funded the projects.

The court further heard that at some point, the men shoved papers in Karonga’s hip pockets, which they lit up in a attempt to burn him.

One of them later had a change of heart and put the fire off.

The gang later released Karonga into Moyo’s custody after coercing him to sign off his properties under duress.

The man was rescued after he managed to send a text message to his brother, who promptly informed the police.

In her defence, Moyo disputed that she had hired the assailants, but said she had fought with Karonga after he received a suspicious text message on his mobile phone.

She said she picked an empty bottle and hit Karonga when she felt she was being overpowered.

Moyo also stated that the vehicle and the house belonged to her clearing company and not to Karonga.