Crimes and Courts
CHINHOYI – In a case that has shocked the nation, the High Court in Chinhoyi has convicted a Magunje man for the brutal 2017 murder of his own sister, a crime the presiding judge described as a tragedy that would haunt the community forever.
Isaac Mashonga, now 28, was found guilty of beheading his sister, Dadirai Mashonga, in their family kitchen hut in Mashonga Village, Zvipani, after a conspiracy with a local businessman for ritual purposes.
High Court judge Justice Philda Muzofa, sitting with assessors, heard how the horrific incident unfolded in July 2017. The victims’ elderly parents, Champion Mashonga, 93, and his wife, awoke to discover their daughter’s headless body.
“No parent can imagine one of his or her children beheading his sibling in their kitchen,” Justice Muzofa said during her judgment.
The court heard that Isaac, then 20, arrived at the homestead on the night of July 13 in the company of a local businessman, Robert Tichareva, known as “Giant”. Tichareva, who was also arrested but has since died, allegedly promised Isaac US$4,000 to carry out the killing for ritual use.
Prosecutors detailed how Isaac led Tichareva directly to the kitchen hut where Dadirai was asleep. She was strangled and then decapitated using a kitchen knife, axe, and a hoe. The pair placed her head in a green satchel and hid it in a derelict building near a business centre.
The following morning, Isaac returned to the homestead wearing blood-soaked clothes. Alert villagers apprehended him and forced him to lead them to the hidden satchel, where his sister’s head was discovered.
His father, Champion Mashonga, testified,
“He confessed and showed us the weapons. As a father, I had no reason to misrepresent the facts. I was simply a troubled father.”
In a tragic twist, Isaac Mashonga lost 80% of his eyesight while awaiting trial, a fact confirmed by prison doctors. Justice Muzofa noted the profound loss for the family, stating,
“For this elderly couple, they have lost two children at the same time – one through death and one through incarceration.”
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