Plumtree man in court for killing wife’s lover

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AN inyanga from Bulu Village at Mphoengs in Plumtree allegedly stabbed his wife’s suspected lover with a knife, which he claimed he was instructed to always carry by ancestral spirits.

AN inyanga from Bulu Village at Mphoengs in Plumtree allegedly stabbed his wife’s suspected lover with a knife, which he claimed he was instructed to always carry by ancestral spirits. SILAS NKALA STAFF REPORTER

This was heard by the Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha when Bekezela Maphepha Mpofu (46), represented by Innocent Mafirakureva, appeared before him charged with the murder of his neighbour, Nkululeko Sibanda (30).

Mpofu pleaded not guilty to the charge, saying he stabbed Sibanda in self-defence.

The traditional healer claimed Sibanda invited him to his homestead to discuss the affair, but the neighbour, with the help of Mpofu’s wife, ganged up on him and attacked him.

Mpofu said on April 19 2014, he awoke his wife and children advising them to prepare to go to a memorial service in the village, while he went to a distant place to attend to his clients.

He said while there, he was called by Sibanda, who told him that his wife was a prostitute and he must chase her away from his home.

“He said as he was talking to me, he had just had sex with her in the hut where he had gone to collect some relish,” Mpofu said.

“He said my wife is the one who seduced him.

“When I arrived at home, my wife was not there and when she came home, I told her that her parents had called and I gave her my mobile phone so she could call them since I thought it was important that she do so.”

He said he asked her if there was any truth that she was sleeping with Sibanda and she denied.

Mpofu said later that night Sibanda called him and told him to tell his wife to leave him alone before calling him (Sibanda) to come with his wife to his place.

He said he went with his wife to Sibanda’s home and he told his neighbour and his wife to respect him.

The traditional healer said that is when he slapped Sibanda, who punched him with a fist, leading to a fight between them.

“Bekezela (his wife) jumped and held me around my waist while Sibanda assaulted me,” he said.

“When I got off her grip, Sibanda punched me on my shoulder and grabbed my left hand.

“When I realised that they were overpowering me, I produced a knife from my pocket, which I was instructed to always carry along by my ancestral spirits,” he said before Kamocha interjected him.

“Why were you carrying that knife?” asked Kamocha.

“Why were you carrying it when you knew you were going for a fight, why would you carry something like that when going to ask someone if he was sleeping with your wife?”

“I was not sure if he was alone,” he responded.

Mpofu said he first stabbed his wife and later stabbed Sibanda, and it was dark in the hut so he did not see who he was stabbing again.

He said his wife and Flora Sibanda were holding him, but when he stabbed Sibanda they let go of him.

He said this happened after he had sometime in 2011 caught his wife with Sibanda making love and he sent her back to her parents, who reprimanded her, before she came back to him and apologised.

The case continues today.

His wife, Flora, Charity Ndlovu, Danger Mkombe and Sanganayi Pesanayi have since testified in the case.