Teens kill drunkard

TWO Mhondoro teenagers and their three adult accomplices, who fatally assaulted a drunk, whom they found lying on the roadside, were yesterday sentenced to six years each for culpable homicide when they appeared before Harare magistrate Noel Mupeiwa.

Tawanda Nyamadzapasi (17), Tafadzwa Muzambi (17), Gift Bello (18), Pardon Zinyengerere (23) and Edmore Kunonga (23) will serve an effective three-year jail term each after three years were suspended on condition of good behaviour.

In passing sentence, Mupeiwa said the five committed a callous act and failed to respect the sanctity of human life after they killed Freddy Asane without provocation and urinated on his body.

"It is the parents' duty to teach you to respect human dignity, but if you do not listen, the courts will act decisively," Mupeiwa said.

According to the State, on December 5, 2015, the five found Asane sleeping on the roadside on their way home from a beer drink in Mubaira and attacked him with stones, before leaving him unconscious.

Asane was found by a Good Samaritan, who rushed him to a local hospital before his transfer to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.

Asane succumbed to the assault injuries on December 29 of that same year.

Constance Ngombengombe appeared for the State.