‘Court suicide premeditated’ The late Cuthbert Shoko
The late Cuthbert Shoko

The late Cuthbert Shoko

Tendai Rupapa : Senior Reporter

The Beatrice man who committed suicide on Monday by downing poison in court had told relatives and friends that he would kill himself in court in the event he was convicted for an offence he had not committed. He succumbed to the poison the same day. Relatives and friends including Cuthbert Shoko’s wife, Mrs Swema Shoko did not take him seriously.Shoko sent text messages to some of his relatives alerting them that he was going to take his life in court if convicted for allegedly stealing a Samsung Galaxy tablet.

He even went to his local bar where he bade farewell to fellow revellers who dismissed his statement as a joke.

On Monday mid-morning, his fears were confirmed and Shoko was convicted of stealing a mobile phone — a Samsung Galaxy tablet — belonging to Yeukai Mutevhani.

Soon after downing a pesticide (name withheld) and while on his way to hospital, Shoko sent a text message to his wife asking her to look after their five children.

“Usare uchichengeta vana Mai Kuda. Ndatungamira tosangana kudenga,” read the message.

To his other relatives, he sent a message on Sunday night which read: “Ndino zviuraya musi weMonday kana ndikapihwa mhosva yandisina kupara. Musanditore kunondiviga. Regai ndivigwe nevasungwa. Ndichapedzerana nehama dzaChester naYeukai avo vandipomera mhosva. Ndazviuraya nekurwadziwa. Tsiye nyoro dzinotsitsirira hama dzangu. Sarai murugare.”

With tears in her eyes, Shoko’s widow narrated the circumstances surrounding the mobile phone in question.

“I am 100 percent sure that Baba did not steal that phone because I was with him on the night of April 16 this year,” she said.

“Mr Banda, who works at a service station here in Beatrice called Baba Kuda (Shoko) while we were sleeping and asked us if we could take one of his employees, Chester Mupfumbwa to the hospital with our car after he had been stabbed by his girlfriend, Yeukai.

“Our car did not have fuel and we then alerted our neighbour before proceeding to the service station where Chester and Banda were. Chester was in possession of Yeukai’s phone and Baba advised him to take the phone to the police. Since he was in pain and bleeding, Baba took the phone and we then went to the police station,” she said.

Mrs Swema Shoko

Mrs Swema Shoko

She added that when they arrived at the police station, Shoko tried to give the phone to the police constable who was on duty, who in-turn advised him to give it back to Chester since Yeukai had not yet been arrested.

“VaShoko gave back the phone to Chester in the full view of the police officer and I even witnessed it. We were surprised when he was summoned to appear in court a month later on allegations of stealing a mobile phone,” she said.

Mrs Shoko said her husband started talking of taking his life two weeks ago while waiting for his judgment.

“I even asked him to give the complainant $150, which was the value of the phone as compensation so that the matter would be over, but he refused saying he was innocent hence, there was no need for him to pay for something he did not steal,” she added.

She said her husband felt that his case was not being handled fairly at the court based on the fact that he had seen the complainant in the company of some prosecutors at Chitungwiza Magistrates’ Court, mingling outside working hours.

“He was a loving and God-fearing man. We have been together for 22 years and we have five children. Of all the years we have been together, he never exhibited suicidal tendencies. I will miss him so much,” she said while holding back her tears.

Shoko’s daughter Sharon (14), said her father showed him a receipt on Sunday night, which showed that he had bought the pesticide.

She said he informed her that he was going to commit suicide if he was convicted.

“It was around 6pm when he arrived home and he called me outside. He then showed me the receipt which, he said was proof that he wanted to kill himself,” she said.

Sharon said she informed her mother and they searched the whole house for the poison, but could not find it.

“We then thought he was joking and went to bed. He again sent me a message on Monday before judgment reminding me of what he had said the previous day,” she said.

“After 30 minutes, he sent another message in which he advised me that he had taken the poison. The message read, “Ndatomwa mushonga. Handinganzi ndakaba phone yandisina kutora. Musare zvakanaka vanangu,” she said.

Shoko’s sister-in-law Ms Rutendo Mujuru, also said he went to her house and advised her of his plans of committing suicide.

She, however, said though he was a good man who was ever jovial, he was short-tempered.

Mrs Yurita Chipasi, a neighbour described Shoko as a man of the people who was well-known in Beatrice.

One of Shoko’s colleagues (who declined to be identified), who was at the beerhall when Shoko bade them farewell said, when he told them that it was their last day to see him, they all laughed.

“Vamwe vakatoseka vakati ukafa tosara tichitora mukadzi wako. Vamwe vakatoti, wadii kungozvikanda munaMupfure. We all thought it was a joke,” he said.

When The Herald arrived at his compound at plot 10 Rocklands, Beatrice, neighbours, relatives and friends were trickling in to pay their last respects as they could not come to terms with Shoko’s sudden death.

He worked as a paralegal.

He gulped poison before pelting the magistrate with the empty bottle soon after the court pronounced him guilty of stealing a mobile phone.

Shoko, who was attending court from home, shocked the gallery and court officials when he suddenly took out the bottle from his pocket.

He opened it and gulped the contents and struck magistrate Mr Francis Mapfumo in the face as court orderlies wrestled with him.

He was rushed to Chitungwiza Central Hospital where he died at 10pm. He will be buried on Friday.

Following the incident, chief magistrate Mr Mishrod Guvamombe said, they were now going to tighten security at the courts countrywide to ensure that those entering the court buildings are thoroughly searched.

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