News / National
Man drowns girlfriend in sewage
09 Jan 2022 at 06:03hrs | Views
A 37-year-old man from Bulawayo's Pumula South allegedly killed his 32-year-old girlfriend by drowning her in a sewage stream on New Year's Day over an undisclosed misunderstanding.
The man, Josphat Sibanda, residing at house number 20530 Pumula South allegedly killed his girlfriend, Constance Chitete, on 1 January at around 5am.
He allegedly held her by the neck and immersed her in sewer water for minutes and did that several times until she died.
Sibanda appeared at the Western Commonage Magistrate's Court before Mr Shepherd Munjanja and was remanded in custody to 19 January.
He was advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
Miss Melisa Dube prosecuted.
According to the State outline, the informant, Lwazi Sibanda, and her husband, Witness Sibanda, were doing their morning routine exercise when they heard the now deceased Chitete screaming.
The couple then proceeded to where the screams were coming from, which is a place close to a sewage stream. They saw the accused having a heated argument with the now deceased.
On arrival they tried to intervene by negotiating with Sibanda who was holding Chitete by the shoulders aggressively.
The court was told that it was at that time that Sibanda pushed his girlfriend into the sewage stream and afterwards jumped into the stream where he then held her by the neck and shoulder and immersed her into the water for a period of about two minutes.
He allegedly continued to immerse her without giving her breathing time while she gargled as the sewer water was getting in the nose and mouth.
She fought to free herself, but Sibanda remained steadfast, holding her tightly in the water until she died.
The deceased's body was taken to United Bulawayo Hospitals where a postmortem was conducted on 3 January by Doctor Juana Rodriguez Gregory, who indicated the cause of death as Asyphixia and drowning.
The man, Josphat Sibanda, residing at house number 20530 Pumula South allegedly killed his girlfriend, Constance Chitete, on 1 January at around 5am.
He allegedly held her by the neck and immersed her in sewer water for minutes and did that several times until she died.
Sibanda appeared at the Western Commonage Magistrate's Court before Mr Shepherd Munjanja and was remanded in custody to 19 January.
He was advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
Miss Melisa Dube prosecuted.
According to the State outline, the informant, Lwazi Sibanda, and her husband, Witness Sibanda, were doing their morning routine exercise when they heard the now deceased Chitete screaming.
On arrival they tried to intervene by negotiating with Sibanda who was holding Chitete by the shoulders aggressively.
The court was told that it was at that time that Sibanda pushed his girlfriend into the sewage stream and afterwards jumped into the stream where he then held her by the neck and shoulder and immersed her into the water for a period of about two minutes.
He allegedly continued to immerse her without giving her breathing time while she gargled as the sewer water was getting in the nose and mouth.
She fought to free herself, but Sibanda remained steadfast, holding her tightly in the water until she died.
The deceased's body was taken to United Bulawayo Hospitals where a postmortem was conducted on 3 January by Doctor Juana Rodriguez Gregory, who indicated the cause of death as Asyphixia and drowning.
Source - The Sunday Mail
