Cop assaults colleague, two residents

A POLICE OFFICER based at the Gokwe Police Station allegedly ran amok and assaulted a mechanic who had demanded his money from him, a woman who declined to sleep with him and a fellow policeman who tried to arrest him for assault.

Emmanuel Tarugarira (21) pleaded not guilty to three counts of assault when he appeared at the Gokwe Magistrates' Court on Tuesday and was remanded in custody to today. The prosecutor said on January 16, the mechanic, Joseph Nyoni, of Mapfungautsi had demanded money Tarugarira owed him when he suddenly became violent.

Tarugarira allegedly struck Nyoni on the nose with an empty bottle resulting in him suffering some heavy bleeding.

In the second count, it is alleged that Tarugarira went to Adiona Hungwe of Durawall Stands in the morning of the same day and asked her to be intimate with him but she refused. This enraged Tarugarira, who allegedly assaulted Hungwe with a stick several times all over her body.

Nyoni and Hungwe made a report to the police. On January 20 at around 2pm, a cop, Gumisai Mapanzure, based at Gokwe Police Station, was instructed by his superior to detain Tarugarira for the assault charges. When Mapanzure tried to arrest him, Tarugarira became violent and attacked the former with a stick. Other cops intervened and subdued Tarugarira and handcuffed him.