Man stabbed to death for not riding his bicycle

A 37-YEAR-OLD Hippo Valley man was stabbed to death with an Okapi knife after failing to produce a purchase receipt for an old bicycle that he was pushing while coming from a beer binge at around 10pm.

The incident occurred in Section seven compound, Hippo Valley Estate, in Chiredzi district when Simbarashe Nemauro was stabbed to death with an Okapi knife by John Runesu (56) for allegedly not riding on his bicycle and failure to produce a purchase receipt.

Acting police spokesman for Masvingo Province, Assistant Inspector Nkululeko Nduna, confirmed the incident to the Sunday News last week saying police were investigating a case of murder that occurred in the Hippo Valley Estate of Chiredzi.

He said the now deceased Nemauro was coming from a beer drink in the company of Nickson Chinhamo (30) and Stanley Mavingire (19) around 10 pm with their bicycles.

"We are investigating a case of murder where a Hippo Valley man coming from a beer drink in the company of two others was fatally stabbed with an Okapi knife after he was accused of stealing a bicycle. The perpetrator demanded to know why the men were not riding their bicycles and demanded the bicycles' purchase receipts which they failed to produce leading to an argument," he said.

The three, he said, had bicycles which they could not ride on their way home probably because they were too drunk. Nemauro and Mavingire were, therefore, pushing their bicycles while Chinhamo was carrying his.

While on their way home they were approached by Runesu who accused them of having stolen the bicycles, querying why they were not riding them if they were genuinely theirs. The three, however, tried to explain to him that they were coming from a beer drink and were too intoxicated to ride the bicycles and besides it was late in the evening.

It took pains for Runesu to understand the three's reasoning and an argument ensued with Runesu forcing the three to produce receipts to show that the bicycles were theirs. The three are said to have told Runesu that the receipts were at their homes and therefore it was not possible for them to produce them as they don't walk around with them.

As the three engaged in a heated argument, Runesu withdrew an Okapi knife and stabbed Nemauro on the chest before disappearing into the thick of the night. Nemauro was rushed to Hippo Valley medical centre where he died on arrival. His body was taken to Chiredzi Hospital mortuary for a post-mortem while police have launched a manhunt for Runesu.

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