Government assures murdered lawyer's family of justice

GOVERNMENT has assured the family of a lawyer, Miss Lucia Duve, who was allegedly killed in a crime of passion by her boyfriend last month, that justice will prevail.

Tashinga Musonza (29), an Airforce of Zimbabwe pilot allegedly fatally assaulted Miss Duve (32), a Gweru-based lawyer who was working for a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) accusing her of cheating on him with his colleague (name withheld).

A postmortem report showed that Miss Duve had a fractured skull, blood clots in her brain and that her lungs were affected by the attack among other injuries.

The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, together with Minister Local Government, Public Works and National Housing July Moyo visited the Duve family in Suburbs suburb, Bulawayo on Thursday to console them following their loss.

"It's sad that you lost your beloved daughter under such unfortunate circumstances but be strong and we pray that God offers you all the comfort that you deserve during this difficult moment," said Ziyambi.

"As the Ministry of Justice, we will do everything to make sure that justice is served and the matter is dealt with in a more transparent and fair trial. We will be following on the case with keen interest as we don't want this to be repeated to anyone else."

The Minister said Government doesn't condone violence against women. "We know people fight but as Government we don't support this kind of behaviour, especially in this era. We want to assure you that this kind of conduct is not part of our systems, but an individual," he said.

When the family said they were never informed about the suspect's court appearances and only heard from other people who are not prosecutors, Ziyambi said they will recommend that the case be transferred to Harare.

Moyo said the Airforce of Zimbabwe does not condone such attacks.

"One of the lessons they are taught during their last days of the training is how to relate and engage with the opposite sex or their spouses. I assure you this is not how the whole institution behaves, but this is one rotten apple," he said.

Lucia's father Mr Godwin Duve said:
"My religion emphasis on reconciliation, no matter how bad the situation. We have nothing against the Airforce. I feel much better now after your visit. I had lost confidence in the justice system looking at how the case had been handled. I find comfort now that we know that government will assist."

Mr Duve said the Musonza family had earlier tried reaching out to them but the deceased's family refused due to the pain they were still going through.

He said they had set conditions through their church for a meeting, but did not state the conditions.

Mr Duve said initially he thought that his daughter died due to a minor fight but was shocked when he asked the UBH doctor to explain the post mortem findings to him. He said the report shows that there was an intention to kill her in the attack.

"My Lucy had a small body and all those countless blows inflicted pain that I can't imagine. I wish the killer could have just shot her dead instead of putting her through that," said Mr Duve.

"The last moments we spent with her were at the church music competitions that we had in Gweru just recently. When we met she was the usual boisterous Lucy and we took pictures with her together with the choir. We went to her place and had supper and we departed for Bulawayo.

"That was the last time we saw her alive. On 24 November she wanted to come to Bulawayo for her brother's birthday but discovered she had forgotten her purse with money at home and she had to turn back. Probably if she had come that day she would be alive with us," he said.