The man who was found dead inside a disused vehicle in the car park of a Gweru hotel on Monday morning was a victim of an attack that had occurred outside a local bar last Friday, police have said.
The deceased man, whom the police have named as Denzel Trevor Dube (26), was assaulted by four men outside a bar in the central business district and escaped with serious injuries which are believed to have caused his death, according to Midlands Provincial spokesperson Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko.
“Zimbabwe Republic Police confirms investigating a murder case following the discovery of a dead body of a man in a disused motor vehicle in a dura wall car park behind Midlands Hotel in Gweru Central Business District on 25th of July 2022 at about 0730 hours.
Investigations have since linked the body to an assault case of a then-unknown man reported at Gweru Central by an informant Samuel Jackson Jacha aged 29 of Mambo in Gweru.
He reported on Friday 22 July 2022 at about 2030 hours that he had just witnessed four men assaulting another man who had just come out Pandas Bar, 3rd street, Gweru Central Business District using a rubber sjambok, empty beer bottles and okapi knife. The victim had then escaped to an unknown destination but with very serious injuries.”
Insp Mahoko said four men were arrested for the assault and taken into custody, but the victim could not be located and identified.
“Police attended the scene during the night and arrested four assault suspects: Nkosi Ncube aged 26 years, Terrence Lewis Sibanda aged 18 years, Washington Ngwenya aged 20 years and Jealous Matola aged 21 years of Gweru all of Umsungwe road, Ridgemont in Gweru.
Police looked for the complainant but could not locate him or establish his identity. On Saturday 23 July 2022, the four suspects were taken to court where they were remanded in custody to 26 July 2022 while investigations continued.”
The body of the deceased was only discovered on Monday morning slumped in an old car inside a hotel parking area a report was made to the police.
“Police attended the scene and the four suspects are now being charged with murder. Injuries reported to have been inflicted on the assault victim on Friday night are tallying with those on the body,” Insp Mahoko said.
He thanked the public for assisting police investigations.