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By Elvis Dumba
Banket – A Banket teenager was on Friday afternoon murdered over an argument regarding an outstanding debt of a substance or drug commonly called “guka” abused by many young people.
Tino Chazungaira was beaten to death by his peers at House number 767 Kuwadzana Township, Banket.
The house is well known as a joint where various drugs such as marijuana and guka are sold with young people usually crowding the place.
Witnesses say the deceased was dragged to the house by the now three suspects aged between 18 to 21. The quartet was fighting over a debt of an undisclosed amount which the deceased owed for “guka”. He had borrowed the substance a day prior to his fate.
Neighbours around the joint said they heard the noise of fighting in the house and ignored it as they said it was a usual trend at the house where youngsters are always involved in fights.
A commercial sex worker who lives nearby named Joy Katura said she heard the noise in the house after earlier seeing three guys dragging the deceased into the house and later heard sounds of fighting and shouting which they ignored.
“They came holding him by his trousers and forced him into the house where they usually spend most of their time together as they take their drugs. Later, we heard sounds of people fighting and shouting but we are used to such behavior which occasionally happens when they are high so we ignored the noise. It was around 1400hrs,” she said.
Joy said Tino’s body was discovered around 1700hrs after four people came to the place demanding a plastic tent stolen from them by the quartet.
“Four people came claiming they were tipped that the “guka” boys were the ones who stole their tent. As they argued with some of the guys who were standing by the door trying to stop them from entering the house, I forced my way into the house and discovered Tino lying unconscious with his trouser pulled to his ankles. That’s when we discovered he was dead and called for other neighbors who eventually called his father before a police report was made,” she narrated.
Chazungair’s body was conveyed to Banket District Hospital where a post-mortem was conducted.
Two suspects were arrested over the murder whilst one is on the run.
Meanwhile, residents of Banket are accusing the local police of inaction over the proliferation of residential houses in Banket which are now used for the sale of drugs and substances being abused especially by young people.
“The police are not doing anything to stop the issue of drugs in Banket yet the operations of traders in these drugs are well known. If one visits some of these places, they see crowds of young people taking these drugs. We know of a CID vehicle which usually frequents these bases not to arrest or stop the menace but to get money as kickbacks,” Mercy Dzvairo said.
Zvimba Rural District Council Ward 22 Councillor, Never Hutepasi, blamed the police for allowing the drug and substance abuse cases to go unchecked in the area.
“It’s unfortunate that we lost a precious life due to things associated with drug abuse. To make matters worse, we know places, where our children are being exposed to such vices and sadly our police seem to be turning a blind eye,” he said in an interview.
Addressing mourners at Chimuzinga’s funeral at Kuwadzana Cemetery, Clr Hutepasi called for a united fight against drug and substance abuse.
“I am appealing to all residents to join hands and fight this evil that is growing in our community where cases of murder related to drug and substance abuse are growing. We are going to engage the police over so-called bases which we all know where our children are getting these drugs so that this habit should be tamed before it is late,” he said.
Efforts to get a comment from Mashonaland West Provincial Police Spokesperson Inspector Margaret Chitove were fruitless whilst National Police Spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi’s mobile phone went unanswered.