Man dies of 'excitement' in prostitute's apartment

A postmortem on a disabled man who died  in a prostitute's apartment in Bulawayo revealed the cause of death as 'excitement,' a  relative of the deceased testified yesterday.

Testifying during the inquest on the death of Mazo Mugura (41), Charles Gonda of Southwold said the pathologist who examined the corpse indicated the cause of death as 'excitement' but failed to ascertain what had triggered  it.

Mugura, who stayed in Emganwini in the city,   died on October 28 last year in Belinda Chikerema's home at Yolande Flats, between Connaught and Masotsha Ndlovu, along Robert Mugabe Way.

Chikerema told the court that Mugura, who had one of his legs amputated and used crutches to aid him in walking, approached her at a local bar, requesting for her services for the night and they left together at around 2150hrs for her flat in a taxi.

In his testimony yesterday, Gonda claimed that Mugura was drugged. "The pathologist's report showed that the deceased died due to excitement, but it was not clear where the excitement came from," he said.

"According to my own assessment, 'excitement' means something foreign came into the deceased's body which resulted in his heart pumping above normal and as a result his veins could not sustain the pressure.

"It was the duty of the doctors to find out what the substance was. The  pathologists withheld that information from us."

Responding to the prosecutor, Jeremiah Mutsindikwa who asked why a pathologist would withhold such important information, Gondo said he was clueless.

"For reasons best known to them, we were only told it was a sudden death," he said.

During last week's session of the inquest, Mugura's widow, Lizzy Lunga, said she suspected the lady of the night drugged her disabled spouse so she could extract semen.

Gondo yesterday concurred with Lunga, saying he believed there were illicit dealings that were taking place at Chikerema's apartment.

"While we waited for the body to be collected I noticed a lot of movement at the flat. There were people coming in and going out, driving top of the range vehicles," he said.

"I have the same belief that semen was extracted from him. I believe there was an 'operation' going on there. She did not only offer sexual services, but was probably in the business of extracting semen, maybe for ritual purposes.  He was injected and he succumbed to the drug."

The inquest continues on July 23 2014 when the pathologist who examined the corpse is expected to testify.