'Till death do us part': Muduva's wife leaves chilling note

A CHILLING suicide note allegedly left by Lyliosa Chirara before her death has shed new light on the troubled marriage between the late Midlands State University lecturer and Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission commissioner Martin Muduva.

Chirara, 43, allegedly attacked Muduva, 42, with an axe while he was asleep at their home in Dzivarasekwa Extension last week before consuming rat poison.

Muduva, an engineer by training and a ZHRC commissioner, later died at Parirenyatwa Hospital on Wednesday morning.

Chirara subsequently died after allegedly ingesting rat poison.

In the handwritten note, which was published by H-Metro and has not been independently authenticated, Chirara said a vow she had made to Muduva that their marriage would only end in death was meant literally.

"As I had vowed to Martin that our union would only be ended by death, this is the death that I meant," she allegedly wrote.

The note paints a disturbing picture of what Chirara described as years of marital unhappiness, rejection and betrayal.

She alleged that Muduva stopped having sex with her in 2022 after obtaining his PhD, claiming that he had become ashamed of being married to a woman without a university education.

"From 2022 to 2025 he never entered our bedroom and he never had sex with me because he now had a PhD so his PhD did not want him to have sex with a woman who was not educated," she allegedly wrote.

Chirara also accused Muduva of secretly marrying another woman, named in the note as Patience Mangwiro.

She claimed that she only discovered the alleged marriage after seeing a social media post about the couple's roora ceremony.

"He went to secretly marry the woman, he went with his relatives and I only learnt about it when I saw it on a status she posted about the Roora Day," she wrote.

According to the note, Chirara believed she had made considerable efforts to save her marriage while also trying to establish herself financially.

She alleged that Muduva objected to her keeping 500 chickens at their home as part of an egg-production business, forcing her to sell them.

She further claimed that he had told her that his earnings were his own business and that she had no right to know how much he earned.

The note suggested that Chirara believed Muduva had changed after obtaining his doctorate and becoming financially successful.

"I'm crying, I'm suffering, murume avekundisema, kundisvipira mate nhasi nekuti ave nemari, akanganwa kwatakabva," she allegedly wrote.

The passage accuses Muduva of despising and looking down on her because he had money and had forgotten their shared past.

Chirara also appeared to address Mangwiro directly.

"Now, let Patiece Mangwiro be happy because all she wanted was to destroy my marriage with Martin," she allegedly wrote.

She then addressed her children, saying she had wanted to watch them grow but believed the stress she was experiencing would eventually have killed her.

"My kids, they don't know anything, yes, I wanted to see them grow but I would still have died because of stress, sorry, I have failed," she allegedly wrote.

Chirara apologised to her relatives and Muduva's family for the pain caused by her actions.

"To my mothers, I know I have inflicted pain on you where it hurts the most but understand this letter, I have written it with tears streaming down my cheeks," she allegedly wrote.

She ended by appealing to relatives to look after her children.

"Chisarai mugarike, please take care of my children," she allegedly wrote.

The allegations contained in the note have not been independently verified, and the document represents Chirara's account of the events and circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

The deaths have left two families and their children grappling with the devastating consequences of a marriage that ended in violence and suicide.