Brothel owner fatally assaults a prostitute

A 45-YEAR-OLD Mutare woman, Charity Chirara, who runs a brothel in the eastern border city, is alleged to have teamed up with her unidentified male counterpart and fatally assaulted a prostitute, accusing her of theft.

The incident is alleged to have occurred at Chirara's brothel in the city centre last week. The deceased, Michel Sithole (19), was accused of stealing $600 from a client.

Chirara was yesterday remanded in custody to December 29 on her hospital bed where she is recuperating from an undisclosed ailment.

Her alleged accomplice is reportedly still at large.

The two are alleged to have repeatedly assaulted Sithole with a wooden stool and sjambok in a bid to force her to release the money.

The State alleged that on December 11 at around 8pm, Sithole hooked up with the unidentified man and agreed to go for a sex romp at Chirara's brothel.

The man later turned against Sithole accusing her of stealing his money. Chirara then intervened and teamed up with the client to assault Sithole in a bid to force her to release the alleged stolen money.

After a prolonged assault, Sithole sustained serious head injuries and cuts all over her body and died moments later.

A post-mortem report showed that Sithole died as a result of the assault. Mutare magistrate Sekai Chiundura presided over the matter.