A 31-YEAR-OLD Victoria Falls woman allegedly fatally stabbed her live-in boyfriend with a kitchen knife for refusing to open the door for her when she arrived home at night from a beer drink.
The murder which has become the talk of Victoria Falls town, took place at the couple’s rented home in Mkhosana suburb on Sunday just after 9PM.
Police arrested Sithandazile Sibanda as she attempted to escape into a nearby bush leading into wildlife infested Chamabondo National Park moments after she had allegedly stabbed Vein Mohamed (26) in the back.
Mohamed was a well-known vendor who operated from Comesa Market, popularly known as Emaplankeni. Some neighbours say Sibanda and Mohamed customarily married about two years ago.
They said Sibanda was in the habit of going beer drinking with friends leaving Mohamed at home and would sometimes pick fights with him whenever she was drunk.
A Chronicle news crew visited the murder scene and spoke to the couple’s landlords Mr Steven Sibanda and his wife Ms Makhosi Mnkandla who expressed shock at the incident.
Ms Mnkandla said Sibanda initially tried to hit Mohamed with an iron bar but later drew a kitchen knife which she used to stab him once in the back causing his instant death.
“She left in the morning and returned around 9PM when we were already sleeping. She was with a female friend and both were drunk. She knocked at their bedroom window and Vein did not open for her. She came and knocked at our window as we were already sleeping and I told her I wasn’t going to open the door for her. My two daughters who were sleeping in the kitchen opened for her.
“As soon as she entered the house, we heard some noise as she confronted her husband saying ‘walile ukungivulela wena nja’ (you dog, you refused to open the door for me),” said Ms Mnkandla.
Ms Mnkandla said she woke up with the intention of making sure her two daughters aged 15 and seven were safe and found the couple fighting in the corridor leading to the kitchen.
“She wanted to hit him with an iron bar but he managed to disarm her. He called out to me to pull her out of the house. No-one had noticed that she had a knife. As he turned to put the iron bar behind a stove, she suddenly jumped towards him and stabbed him in the back. She pulled it out while shouting saying ‘ngizakubulala nja.’
“I almost panicked as Vein went still. She tried to stab him again and I gathered strength and grabbed her hand. I pinned her hand between my legs and managed to grab the knife which she let go,” said Ms Mnkandla.
Blood, she said, immediately started oozing from Mohamed’s nose and mouth as he slowly fell down against the stove.
He ended up on his back on a bed that was in the kitchen.
Ms Mnkandla said after disarming Sibanda, she quickly locked the door leaving the accused, deceased and two girls in the house as she ran to seek help from neighbours.
Mr Sibanda, who uses a wheelchair, was still in the bedroom as the drama was unfolding.
Sibanda broke a door and escaped as she headed for the bush.
Some neighbours reportedly tried to apprehend her but failed as she had become violent.
A neighbour quickly drove to the nearby Mkhosana police base to make a report and on his way back, two cops spotted Sibanda crossing a road towards the bush.
The cops ran after Sibanda and arrested her. An ambulance crew that arrived about an hour later pronounced Mohamed dead. Mr Sibanda said he wants the couple’s families to cleanse his house. Matabeleland North police spokesperson Chief Inspector Siphiwe Makonese could not be reached for comment.
