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Fungai Lupande Senior Court Reporter
Five neighbours from Glen Lorne, Harare, appeared in court last week on allegations of fatally assaulting a suspected thief they caught in their area. Samuel Madhudhu (22), Jonathan Mugadza (28), Albert Kuona (42), Trymore Topo (26) and Chenjerai Chikafu (30) appeared before Harare magistrate Ms Lucy Ngwari facing culpable homicide charges.

They were remanded to January 24 for trial. The court heard that the accused resided in the same neighbourhood and were employed as private security guards. The prosecutor, Mr Ephraim Zinyandu, alleged that on November 19 this year, the accused were on duty in Hayhill Close, in their area.

The court heard that at around 2am, they observed that the deceased, Muneinazvo Mambara, and his accomplice were trying to break into one of the houses they were guarding. Kuona and Topo approached the suspected intruders who were trying to force open a window and started shouting, “Thief! Thief!” Prompting Mambara and his accomplice to flee.

They gave chase and managed to apprehend Mambara and took him to Hayhill Close where people who were awakened by the commotion had gathered. Kuona and Topo tied Mambara’s hands using an electrical cable. It is alleged that Chikafu joined the crowd and started assaulting Mambara.

The court heard that Madhudhu and Mugadza took turns to assault him after others had stopped. It is alleged that Madhudhu continued to assault Mambara until his colleague took away the baton he was using.

Madhubhu allegedly took a log, which he used to further assault Mambara. The police later attended the scene and Mambara was rushed to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals where he died upon admission. A postmortem revealed that the cause of death was head trauma due to assault.