News / Local
Victim leaves message written in own blood
04 Dec 2013 at 03:24hrs | Views
MYSTERY surrounds the death of a Bulawayo man who was found hanging from the roof of a spare room in his house with the name "STEVEN" written twice on the blood splattered on the floor of the main bedroom.
Police said they were investigating a case of suicide but his family suspects foul play because the man had a wound on his forehead from where the blood splattered in his bedroom allegedly came from.
Themba Nyathi, 48, husband to Charity Nyathi, a prosecutor at Western Commonage Magistrates' Court, was discovered by his 11-year-old daughter hanging loosely from a rope on Monday at about 5pm at the family home in Pumula South.
A distressed Charity told reporters: "When my daughter arrived home from school, she knocked on our bedroom intending to greet her father who, however, did not unlock his door and ordered her to go to her grandmother's place".
She added: "My daughter was so confused and we are actually questioning ourselves why my husband would order the child to go to her grandmother, something that he has never done before."
When Charity's daughter returned home later in the evening, she found the door of their bedroom wide open.
"She walked into the bedroom and her father was not there and blood was splattered on the floor. She became suspicious and started looking for her father in other rooms until she found him lying on the floor with a rope around his neck tied to the roof," said Charity.
"I phoned my mother who advised me to tell my grandmother what had happened."
Charity said nothing was amiss when she last saw her husband in the morning.
She said: "He actually accompanied me to the bus stop when I was leaving for work in the morning, he looked happy as usual.
"Nothing seemed out of place".
"I only know that later during the day he went to Nkulumane Shopping Complex to send groceries with our niece who was going to the rural areas."
Nyathi's niece, Sandile Kaira last saw her uncle around 2pm when she was going to Kezi.
She said: "We met at the Complex and he gave me seed maize and other groceries to give his father in Kezi, he was laughing of course but was a little subdued.
"I noticed something was amiss when I joked that I would steal the nice watch he was spotting. He did not laugh, which was very unusual.
"He later phoned me when he got home asking if he had not left an extra $20 with me. I told him I did not have it and that was the last time we spoke."
Nyathi's sister, Thandiwe, dismissed the possibility that her brother might have committed suicide.
"It's not possible that my brother killed himself. If he did, where is the object that he used to stab himself on the forehead? We searched everywhere and there was no weapon.
"Can a dead man hide a weapon?" she asked.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo confirmed the incident.
"I can confirm that a man from Pumula South, identified as Themba Nyathi, 48, hanged himself in his home and investigations are still underway to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the incident," he said.
Police said they were investigating a case of suicide but his family suspects foul play because the man had a wound on his forehead from where the blood splattered in his bedroom allegedly came from.
Themba Nyathi, 48, husband to Charity Nyathi, a prosecutor at Western Commonage Magistrates' Court, was discovered by his 11-year-old daughter hanging loosely from a rope on Monday at about 5pm at the family home in Pumula South.
A distressed Charity told reporters: "When my daughter arrived home from school, she knocked on our bedroom intending to greet her father who, however, did not unlock his door and ordered her to go to her grandmother's place".
She added: "My daughter was so confused and we are actually questioning ourselves why my husband would order the child to go to her grandmother, something that he has never done before."
When Charity's daughter returned home later in the evening, she found the door of their bedroom wide open.
"She walked into the bedroom and her father was not there and blood was splattered on the floor. She became suspicious and started looking for her father in other rooms until she found him lying on the floor with a rope around his neck tied to the roof," said Charity.
"I phoned my mother who advised me to tell my grandmother what had happened."
Charity said nothing was amiss when she last saw her husband in the morning.
She said: "He actually accompanied me to the bus stop when I was leaving for work in the morning, he looked happy as usual.
"Nothing seemed out of place".
"I only know that later during the day he went to Nkulumane Shopping Complex to send groceries with our niece who was going to the rural areas."
Nyathi's niece, Sandile Kaira last saw her uncle around 2pm when she was going to Kezi.
She said: "We met at the Complex and he gave me seed maize and other groceries to give his father in Kezi, he was laughing of course but was a little subdued.
"I noticed something was amiss when I joked that I would steal the nice watch he was spotting. He did not laugh, which was very unusual.
"He later phoned me when he got home asking if he had not left an extra $20 with me. I told him I did not have it and that was the last time we spoke."
Nyathi's sister, Thandiwe, dismissed the possibility that her brother might have committed suicide.
"It's not possible that my brother killed himself. If he did, where is the object that he used to stab himself on the forehead? We searched everywhere and there was no weapon.
"Can a dead man hide a weapon?" she asked.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo confirmed the incident.
"I can confirm that a man from Pumula South, identified as Themba Nyathi, 48, hanged himself in his home and investigations are still underway to establish the exact circumstances surrounding the incident," he said.
Source - chronicle
