Jilted man fatally axes sleeping wife

A MAN allegedly killed his wife with an axe after she called time on their relationship. Collen Dube, 35, of Makhaza village under Chief Gampu in Tsholotsho allegedly killed Tumelo Ncube, 25, at her parents' home while her 13-year-old brother watched helplessly.

According to Chronicle, Dube stormed into a hut where Ncube was sleeping with the couple's two children and her younger brother at around 4AM on Tuesday.

He allegedly struck Tumelo across the face with the axe, leaving her for dead with the axe stuck in her face. The younger brother later told family members that he saw Dube under the light of a torch. Dube fled from the area on a bicycle after allegedly committing the heinous crime on Tuesday morning.

Villagers followed the bicycle tyre tracks up to Manzamyama River, at the border of Tsholotsho and Plumtree, where they vanished.

Joseph Ncube, 50, Tumelo's father, said the couple had been living together for the past three years and have two children. "Their relationship has never been smooth as Dube was always accusing Tumelo of cheating on him. They were always quarrelling," said Ncube.

He added: "About two weeks ago, they had a serious dispute and the village head had to intervene. My daughter returned to my home.

"The village head brought the issue to me but I insisted he should counsel them as I was tired of Dube's stories. The following night, my daughter came back home at midnight."

He said on Monday, Dube came to his homestead saying he had come to fetch his family. Ncube said he fined his son in law R500 for disrespecting him and his daughter.

"The young man didn't seem offended. The following day he came back with R200. He was accompanied by a Neighbourhood Watch Committee member. We resolved that he should bring his relatives to witness that he had promised not to repeat his funny behaviour," said the elderly man.

"I really wonder what then got into the his mind because there is evidence he parted ways with the Neighbourhood Watch officer after 10PM, went and cooked supper at his home and ate," he said.

"At around 4AM, Dube came back to my home and sneaked into the bedroom hut where his wife, his two kids and my son, Butho, slept. He held a torch up his face and got busy in the hut. Butho couldn't see what he was up to but he went in and out of the hut two times. He then washed his hands in a bucket which was placed close to the door before going outside once more."

"I was shocked to be called in the wee hours of Wednesday morning to find my bloodied daughter on the brink of death, with an axe stuck in her face."

He said Dube struck his wife on the left side of her face, left the axe there and ran away. "Her brother raised the alarm. I found my daughter motionless and her heartbeat was faint," he said. Ncube said the family called relatives who live nearby.

Tumelo's aunt, Violet Ndebele, said just as everyone had concluded she was dead, she moved her hand and touched the axe. "We removed the axe trying to save her but a few minutes later, she breathed her last," said Ndebele.

She said villagers found certified affidavits at Dube's homestead, which identified him as Collen Ncube, not Dube.