News / National
Suspected witch bashed to death
07 Jun 2013 at 09:45hrs | Views
A High Court judge has jailed three Karoi brothers after they assaulted a 60-year-old neighbour to death on accusations of bewitching their family member.
High Court judge Felistas Chatukuta jailed the trio of Enock, Gilbert and Barton Garnett after they all pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of culpable homicide.
Enock and Gilbert, who were initially facing murder charges, were both sentenced to five years in prison before Chatukuta suspended one year on condition of good behaviour for the next five years.
Barton was jailed for two years because of the less active role he played in the assault.
He will, however, spent one year in prison after the another year was suspended on condition of good behaviour for the next five years.
The court heard the incident took place in October 2008 when the trio's relative Annah and her husband visited them. She fell down and lost consciousness, the court was told.
When Enock and Gilbert arrived home, they noticed Annah's state and suspected that she had been attacked by Njazi Mangoromera's goblins.
The two went and confronted Mangoromera over the issue, before they were joined by Barton.
They took turns to assault Mangoromera using sticks.
Enock and Gilbert dragged Mangoromera to the village head but continued assaulting her along the way.
"Upon arrival at headman Maendaenda's homestead, the first convict (Enock) told the headman that they had brought a witch who had caused untold problems in their family," the court was told.
According to court papers, they dumped Mangoromera at the village head's homestead, where she later died.
A post mortem showed that Mangoromera died as a result of intrathoracic haemorrhage.
High Court judge Felistas Chatukuta jailed the trio of Enock, Gilbert and Barton Garnett after they all pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of culpable homicide.
Enock and Gilbert, who were initially facing murder charges, were both sentenced to five years in prison before Chatukuta suspended one year on condition of good behaviour for the next five years.
Barton was jailed for two years because of the less active role he played in the assault.
He will, however, spent one year in prison after the another year was suspended on condition of good behaviour for the next five years.
The court heard the incident took place in October 2008 when the trio's relative Annah and her husband visited them. She fell down and lost consciousness, the court was told.
When Enock and Gilbert arrived home, they noticed Annah's state and suspected that she had been attacked by Njazi Mangoromera's goblins.
The two went and confronted Mangoromera over the issue, before they were joined by Barton.
They took turns to assault Mangoromera using sticks.
Enock and Gilbert dragged Mangoromera to the village head but continued assaulting her along the way.
"Upon arrival at headman Maendaenda's homestead, the first convict (Enock) told the headman that they had brought a witch who had caused untold problems in their family," the court was told.
According to court papers, they dumped Mangoromera at the village head's homestead, where she later died.
A post mortem showed that Mangoromera died as a result of intrathoracic haemorrhage.
Source - daily news
