Man murders wife over WhatsApp

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A KWEKWE man from Mbizo brutally assaulted his wife on New Year’s eve after she allegedly received an image of male organ via smartphone messenger WhatsApp

A KWEKWE man from Mbizo brutally assaulted his wife on New Year’s eve after she allegedly received an image of a male organ via smartphone messenger WhatsApp. The man is now facing murder charges after the wife died on January 5 from the injuries she sustained.

BLESSED MHLANGA STAFF REPORTER

Thembinkosi Gumbi (41) had initially pleaded guilty to a charge of assault under the Domestic Violence Act when he first appeared in court earlier, but the charge was altered to murder when he reappeared in the dock yesterday.

The State says on December 31 at around 9pm, Gumbi and his now deceased wife were at home when she received a WhatsApp message from an identified friend.

Gumbi said he was angered by the message his wife received alleging that it contained an image of a male organ wrapped in gift paper sent from a number he suspected belonged to a male friend. Gumbi said the image was an extreme provocation to his manhood and he lost control of his faculties resulting in him assaulting his wife in a fit of rage.

The State alleged that when Gumbi’s wife noticed that her husband was angry, she dashed out of the house and locked herself in the couple’s car.

Armed with a metal shock absorber, Gumbi is alleged to have smashed the car’s windscreen, pulled out his wife and brutally assaulted her all over the body, including the head, until she lost consciousness.

“The now deceased suffered a cracked skull bone, lacerations on the forehead and injuries all over the body and could not talk when she was taken to hospital due to the assault,” part of the State outline reads.

She was assisted by a neighbor, who took her to the police station before being ferried to hospital. Prosecutor Tinashe Mhonda told the court that the State would be altering the charges from assault to murder after receiving information that Gumbi’s wife was now deceased.

Resident magistrate Taurai Manwere remanded Gumbi in custody to January 20 and advised him to apply for bail at the High Court.