POLICE officers in Bulawayo have failed to locate State witnesses needed to testify at an inquest into the death of a soldier who died at the United Bulawayo Hospital (UBH) due to suspected torture while serving a jail term at Induna barracks.
BY SILAS NKALA
Alfonce Nhengo (29) died while serving a 40-day sentence for an undisclosed offence at the detention barracks. Relatives took up the case with the police to investigate Nhengo’s death as they suspected foul play. The inquest is being heard by the Bulawayo senior magistrate Gladmore Mushove.
Mushove yesterday remanded the matter to August 14 after prosecutor Jeremiah Mutsindikwa submitted that police had failed to locate the State witnesses.
The State was not supplied with their addresses.
“Police did not manage to serve the witnesses with summons because no address were supplied,” Mutsindikwa said.
“I pray that this matter be remanded to August 14 so that the witnesses are served with summons.”
The State alleges that Nhengo of Masvingo, who was a member of the Zimbabwe National Army based at 11 Infantry Battalion at Induna Barracks in Bulawayo, died sometime in April 2014.
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The court heard that army officials asked the pathologist to perform a post-mortem without reporting the matter to the police.
On July 14 2014, Nhengo’s relatives reported the matter to the police after they failed to get full circumstances surrounding his death.
Police at Queens Park Police Station started investigations and obtained a post mortem report, which detailed the cause of the death. A post mortem report showed that Nhengo was severely assaulted leading to his death.
The report stated that the cause of death was evere assault.
