By Ndhliyase Mlambo | Masvingo Mirror |
HARARE – It started like any other day for Natasha Munyengwa Goremucheche, a devout Christian, a former banker and a finance officer at Christ Embassy Church in Belvedere, Harare.
On the morning of September 28, 2022, the 42-year-old widow left her place in Ashdown Park for work at near Belvedere Teachers’ College.
She caught a lift in the morning rush hour near Divaris Shopping Center where she intended to catch a connecting lift to Christ Embassy Church.
Little did Goremucheche know that the very next car will see her to the end of her life. Ruthless criminals lurked for prey; ready to pounce on innocent souls for money and if need be to kill in order to achieve the same.
Goremucheche’s aunt, Irene Goremucheche Nyathi narrated the harrowing story to The Mirror. Police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed Goremucheche’s death and said a docket for murder has since been opened.
At Divaris, Goremucheche saw a lift at the bus stop and approached the driver who was alone in the vehicle and he confirmed that he was going her direction. She took a seat at the back of the small Toyota without taking particular interest on its make or colour.
A few metres away a man flagged down the car and he boarded and joined Goremucheche at the back. The car drove for about half a kilometre and suddenly Goremucheche was hit on the head with a fist and the man snatched her mobile phone and handbag.
Goremucheche however, pinned the man down and the driver seeing that his accomplice was losing out, pulled out an empty bottle and handed it over to his accomplice who hit Goremucheche hard on the nose with it.
She then pleaded to be dropped off since the two already got what they wanted but they drove her to the outskirts of Belvedere near Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) Training Center where they tied her hands with a belt and covered her face with her T shirt before dumping her in a shallow pit.
She was ordered not to attempt to leave the pit until after 20 minutes because she was going to be shot dead if she did.
She eventually managed to free herself and got help at the next homes about 200 metres away from the open space.
She made a Police report and got four stitches to the cut on her face at the Avenues Clinic. A week later she complained of dizziness and thereafter she could not see. An optician prescribed her some spectacles and her eyesight was restored but her dizziness worsened and she became mentally confused.
She was taken to hospital on October 13, 2022 where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Police ordered a post-mortem which showed that Goremucheche suffered from a swollen brain.
It is heartrending that for a handbag, a mobile phone and US$140, her three children; two girls aged 10 and 16 and another child aged 21 have suddenly become orphans. They will grow without a mother.
Goremucheche was buried at Mabvuku Cemetery on October 18, 2022.
Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyati urged members of the public to avoid boarding unregistered vehicles. He also added that ‘mushikashika’ drivers are being arrested.
