KADOMA-(MaraviPost)-A former Zimbabwean prison officer has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for murdering his estranged wife and their 23-year-old daughter, who was eight months pregnant at the time.
Albert Namurokosi was handed two 25-year terms by Justice Manyangadze at the Chinhoyi High Court, to run consecutively, for the double homicide in Victory Park, Kadoma.
According to H Metro, the killings followed a domestic violence complaint filed by his 45-year-old wife, Cynthia Namurokosi.
The court heard that Cynthia had reported her husband for domestic violence, leading to his arrest and detention at Ingezi Police base in Kadoma on May 2.
Fearing for her safety, she left their matrimonial home and sought refuge at the home of their daughter, Takudzwa Namurokosi.
The following afternoon, on May 3 at around 1:30pm, Albert tracked her to House Number 929, Victory Park, where Takudzwa lived with her young family.
Prosecutor Review Nikisi told the court that Albert forced his way into the house and attacked his pregnant daughter with a knife. She fled through the kitchen door, but he pursued her outside and stabbed her again on the shoulder, warning a neighbour not to intervene.
When Cynthia confronted him and asked why he was attacking their daughter, he turned on her and stabbed her once in the neck, killing her instantly.
Takudzwa’s body was later found behind the house. A post-mortem examination conducted on May 8 concluded she died from haemothorax and lung laceration caused by a stab wound to the back.
Albert fled the scene but later handed himself over to police.
In mitigation, he told the court his marriage had been troubled for five years after he fathered a child outside the marriage, and alleged infidelity on his wife’s part.
The court rejected the mitigation as justification.
The case has renewed calls for stronger protection for women who report domestic violence in Zimbabwe.
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