By Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu
A Gwanda miner has been arrested for allegedly strangling a workmate before dumping his body along a railway line, where it was crushed by a train.
The matter was initially treated as a suicide case after deceased’s body was run over by a goods train.
Albert Ncube (31) of Spitzkop Suburb was not asked to plead when he appeared before Gwanda magistrate, Miss Lerato Nyathi facing a murder charge.
He was remanded in custody to July 13.
Prosecuting, Mr Silent Shoko said Ncube accused the now deceased Onias Mushipe of “stealing” his girlfriends which resulted in a misunderstanding.
“On 1 June at around 7PM Ncube and nine other artisanal miners including Onias Mushipe boarded a Toyota Granvia vehicle and headed to Prospect Gold Mine at Mgomo Farm in Gwanda. Along the way a misunderstanding arose between Mushipe and Ncube after Ncube accused him of taking his girlfriends,” said Mr Shoko.
“Their workmates managed to calm them down in order to stop them from fighting further. The gang dropped off at Cobra Mine which is opposite Mgomo Farm. The other mine workers went ahead to do their work and Mushipe, Ncube and their workmate Mr Tinashe Dube remained behind to resolve the dispute they had earlier.”
Mr Shoko said Ncube further accused Mushipe of snatching his girlfriends and tripped him to the ground before strangling him.
He said upon realising what had transpired Mr Dube fled from the scene leaving Ncube behind with Mushipe’s body.
Mr Shoko said in a bid to conceal the offence Ncube then took the body to a nearby railway line and placed it there with the head on the line facing upwards. He said at around 10PM Mushipe’s body was crushed by a goods train.
The matter was reported to the police who attended the scene.
Mr Shoko said police received a tip off on Saturday resulting in Ncube’s arrest. Ncube had been on the run for the past two years after committing robbery and attempted murder cases in Fort Rixon where he reportedly robbed a victim and further tried to dump the body in a disused mine. The Chronicle
