Nun murdered at shrine, body dumped in dam

A 49-YEAR-OLD Catholic nun and Hartmann House school teacher was gruesomely murdered while praying at the Holy Cross in Mutoko before her body was dumped in a nearby dam in an incident which has left many shocked.

Police have since arrested the suspect, Enock Potani (20) of Chouriri village under Chief Mutoko, who reportedly confessed to killing Sister Ruvadiki Plaxedes Kamundiya, a teacher at Hartmann House, which is part of St George's College in Harare.

Police in Mashonaland East province were not available for comment yesterday, but NewsDay is reliably informed that the case is being handled by ZRP Mutoko under DB610/17.

The suspect is believed to be mentally challenged.

According to information obtained by this paper, on Sunday, Kamundiya went to the Mother of Peace community in Mutoko on a tour to assess the preparations for a school visit by St George's College mass servers that was scheduled for Friday.

Kamundiya was welcomed by Juliet Haurovi (37) before the two had discussions as well as touring the centre. It is reported that the now-deceased was told about the Blue Cross, popularly known as the Glorious Cross of Life, and expressed interest to visit it before returning to Harare.

The nun went to the cross at the mountain on foot about 80 metres from the Mother of Peace community, leaving Haurovi behind.

After realising that Kamundiya had taken long to return and that her car was still where she had parked it, Haurovi sent James Chinamano (17) and Simon Muhamba (17), who are both orphans at the institution, to look for Kamundiya, who had indicated that she wanted to pray before going back to Harare.

The two returned and told Haurovi that had failed to locate Kamundiya, but said they saw Potani at the Blue Cross who told them that he had seen the now-deceased praying before leaving for the village.

Haurovi teamed up with Beaula Musere (44) and found the suspect still at the cross and asked him whether he had seen Kamundiya.
They were, however, told that she had left for Mushimbo. The suspect also told the two that Kamundiya was behaving like a mentally challenged person.

The following day, it is reported that Panganayi Robert and Givemore Chibanda of Mutemwa Leprosy Centre joined in the search and found the body of Kamundiya floating in Mutemwa Dam.

The matter was reported to the police, who retrieved the body before being led to where Potani was. It is reported that he was quizzed and confessed that he had killed Kamundiya.

He then led the police officers to a nearby farm where a blood-stained golden dress (church regalia), shoes, a bra and hair band belonging to the now-deceased were recovered wrapped in a blood-stained white sack.

It is said Potani also led to the discovery of blood-stained white panties and black skin tights which were stashed in his suitcase.

He was also found in possession of three panties and a bra, giving the impression that he might have raped the woman.

He also told the police that he had used a stone in committing the murder. The stone was recovered.

Kamundiya's body was taken to the Murewa District Hospital mortuary for post-mortem.

Kamundiya was a well-known gospel music composer and was a member of the Harare Composers' Association.