Airzim boss strangled: Post-mortem

By Freeman Razemba

Post-mortem results for Air Zimbabwe public relations executive Mrs Shingai Dhliwayo, who was found dead in a bush in Botswana, have revealed that she was strangled to death.

The post-mortem was conducted at a Francistown hospital in Botswana and a team of senior police officers was dispatched to assist in probing the death of Mrs Dhliwayo.

The team, mostly from Bulawayo and Matabeleland South provinces, was also present when the post-mortem was conducted.

Some of them left the country on Tuesday night.

Chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba yesterday confirmed the latest developments and said investigations on the case were still in progress.

“Post-mortem has been conducted today (yesterday) and the results are; ‘Homicide as a result of a combination of strangulation and gagging’. Our officers who are being led by Superintendent Musasira were present when the post-mortem was conducted and later on they got a debriefing from their counterparts about the results.

“Investigations on the case are, however, still in progress,” she said.

Snr Asst Comm Charamba said there was also another post mortem that was conducted for another Zimbabwean man who was shot in the neighbouring country for a case of burglary.

She, however, could not divulge much information concerning the burglary case.

Meanwhile, Airzim passenger and cargo general manager Mr Chris Kwenda, said Mrs Dhliwayo’s body had since been handed over to her relatives by Botswana authorities.

“They are now working on the paper work to repatriate the body back to the country and hopefully by tomorrow (today) the body will have arrived,” he said.

On Monday, police and their Batswana counterparts with the help of the International Police Organisation (Interpol), intensified investigations to ascertain the cause of Mrs Dhliwayo’s death.

Mrs Dhliwayo’s body was found tied onto a tree with both hands and legs also tied with a rope in a sitting position.

Her mouth was gagged with a cloth and she was bleeding from the nose.

The body was found about 5km from Plumtree Border Post in a bushy area and it is suspected that she had been lured by unknown assailants to travel to Botswana in a bid to rob her.

It is suspected that there is a syndicate that is luring Zimbabwean businesspeople after promising them “lucrative deals” and then rob them after crossing into Botswana.

Airzim has also put in place a team that would assist till the case is finalised. The Herald