By Fungie Pee Chinembiri
HARARE – Roland Muchegwa (46) is on the run from police in Zimbabwe after savagely attacking his ex-wife, mother of two Mitchell Kawome, on the 16th of September leaving her fighting for her life.
The police and her family want to hear from anyone who may have information on his whereabouts. He is a very dangerous and violent man and should not be confronted or approached except by police officers.
His usual and last known place of residence is in Mount Pleasant, Harare. Anyone with information should contact Inspector Sengwe or anyone on duty at the Harare Central Police Sub District level (Phone: Number is 04-777777).
Muchegwa and his victim, Mitchell Kawome, were married for ten years and have two children together. However, Muchegwa had not been providing any form of support or child maintenance to his children. He has eight children with four different women. Of the eight, four were conceived outside of marriage while he was still married to Kawome.
Their marriage was marred by Muchegwa’s philandering, abusive, violent and controlling behaviour. She was routinely subjected to savage acts of physical violence, countless times, in front of her children whenever she confronted him about his behaviour.
Whenever Kawome tried to escape and leave the marriage in order to save herself and her children, Muchegwa would always follow her to her parents’ home and forcibly bring her back into a matrimonial home plagued by violence.
In 2013 and with the support of family and friends, Mitchell finally left after pictures of Muchegwa having a three-some with two unknown women went viral on social media.
Although she was finally free, Muchegwa vowed and threatened that if he couldn’t have her he was going to make sure that no one else would.
Since then he has physically attacked her whenever he bumps into her and has physically fought everyone who ever tried to date her. Still, nothing was done to protect her and her children.
The most recent attack happened on the 16th of September when Kawome and her friends ran into him at a night out in Pabloz, a night spot in Harare.
Mitchell and her friends then tried to run away but when they were outside he followed them and brutally attacked Mitchell with a bottle several times on the face while stomping on her lifeless body with his feet and fists.
No human being should be made to endure such a life of violence and torture. We should stop viewing domestic violence as a “cultural norm” or a taboo subject that we should not discuss in public. Women, whether married or single, should be able to exercise their fundamental human right to live a life of dignity, freedom, free from abuse and violence.
Let us help Mitchell Kawome and all other victims of domestic abuse and violence to get the justice they rightly deserve. The least we can do is to give her and her two children a voice by sharing their story with others. We should not let them suffer in silence.
