A BULAWAYO man who took part in a scuffle where his friend ended up stabbing his neighbour with an Okapi knife leaving the knife blade lodged inside his body was yesterday slapped with an eight-year prison term for attempted murder.
BY SILAS NKALA
Mthokozisi Dube (24) of Cowdray Park had denied the charge when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Mark Dzira.
“You connived with your friend (Meluleki Dube), who stabbed the complainant, Bruno Murenje (21), with an Okapi knife and the tip of the knife broke inside his flesh,” Dzira said.
“He was taken to Mpilo Hospital where doctors discharged him saying they were unable to remove the blade.
“He had to be transferred to Harare’s Parirenyatwa Hospital where he was treated.”
Dzira said the attack on the complainant was a serious attempt on his life.
“There was no justification for you to attack him. Complainant sustained serious injuries which interfered with his life,” he said.
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“It has been said time and again that violence does not solve disputes. If someone has wronged you, why don’t you go to the police like what the complainant did?
“If the complainant had a dispute with Meluleki, why did you involve yourself in it?
“Now the person who stabbed him is not there and it is clear that you were part of the attack,” Dzira added.
Meluleki is said to be still at large after committing the crime.
Prosecutor Tinashe Dzipe told the court that on December 25 last year around 9pm, Murenje — who was coming back from reporting to the police that he had been assaulted by Meluleki — was confronted by the two.
Dube charged at him accusing him of being a bully, while Meluleki held his hand and produced an Okapi knife.
While Dube hit Murenje with clenched fists while Meluleki stabbed him once on the right side of the chest and back.
The two then ran away and Murenje was taken to Mpilo Hospital’s intensive care unit and later transferred to Parirenyatwa.
A police report was made, resulting in Dube’s arrest. However, Meluleki is still at large.
