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Nyore Madzianike Senior Reporter
THE case in which Samantha Kureya, popularly known as Gonyeti, is claiming to have been abducted could soon crumble amid reports that the comedienne and her family have not made any follow-up on police investigations into the matter. There is strong suspicion that the alleged abduction on the night of August 22 was stage-managed for political expediency or to raise the stock of the controversial drama queen.

The 34-year-old made an initial report at Marimba Police Station on the night she claimed to have been abducted by “masked gunmen” from No. 34 Mbada Street, Mufakose, where she was staying.

Interestingly, no member of her family, including her mother, Miriam Mavhudzi (52), has made a follow-up to ascertain who could have been behind the said abductions.

Gonyeti has not returned home since she left hospital, as she has reportedly gone into hiding.

Her siblings said they never made a follow-up on the matter and had no clue on when they will engage the police over their findings, despite the serious nature of the case.

Gonyeti’s mother confirmed that no follow-up has been made.

“I have never been to the police and I personally did not lodge any report with the police. My daughters were the ones who went to the police.”

Asked whether they lodged a complaint with the police about the harassment they reportedly went through, Mrs Mavhudzi said: “We did not report in that way because we were all in panic. Samantha and Felistas (Gonyeti’s sister) were the ones who went to report that they were assaulted. I do not think we will make such a report as we are grateful to God that my daughter is alive and safe now.”

Mrs Mavhudzi said Gonyeti neither screamed nor made any efforts to alert their neighbours of the ‘danger’ she was faced with.

She revealed that they did not inform their neighbours of what had happened to her daughter and that masked gun-toting men had entered their yard.

“We never thought of it,” she said.

Mrs Mavhudzi said she saw two cars which were parked outside their gate, which were white and red in colour.

Gonyeti’s sister Felistas, also confirmed that they have not engaged the police to find out progress on their investigations.

Felistas said she had no clue or harbour any intentions of finding out on what police discovered from their findings.

This was despite her claims that they were no longer feeling safe at their house.

“I made an assault report at police and I have never followed it up. It is unfortunate that I do not have the IR number with me, but I told the police that the men assaulted me,” she said.

Felistas revealed that Gonyeti has not yet reconnected with the rest of the family since her discharge from hospital last Saturday.

Efforts to get a comment from the artist were fruitless as her mobile phone was unreachable.

Although her account of what happened on the day of the alleged abduction was different from that of her mother, Felistas, claimed her sister was bundled into either a white RAV4 or a red Nissan X-trail, which she saw parked outside their yard.

In her recorded narration while in hospital bed, Gonyeti claims that one of the cars was an Isuzu.

Contrary to their mother’s assertion that her son Nigel went to open the door for the ‘abductors’, Felistas claims she is the one who responded to the knock.

Felistas also chronicled how they managed to assist her sister after she was reportedly dumped in Crowborough.

“I received some ‘call me back’ text messages on my phone and when I called the number, it was when Gonyeti told me that she was at Crowborough Phase 3 shops. I then accompanied the police to the shops where I found her in the company of two other women, who had assisted her,” she said.

Asked whether she managed to get the names of the women who assisted Gonyeti on the day in question and their contacts details, Felistas said:

“I lost the number when my phone’s battery lost power. It is unfortunate that we did not get the names of the women. All we were more concerned about was the safety of my sister,” she said.

Lawyers from the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, who are handling Gonyeti’s matter, said the comediene is yet to give them instructions on how to proceed with the matter.

“We were only been following her when she was receiving medical attention. We have not yet received instructions from her, so there is nothing we have done yet,” said Tinomudaishe Shoko from (ZHRC).

National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said investigations into Gonyeti’s case were still underway.