A Karoi fuel dealer was tortured and murdered by a seven-member gang after he was allegedly found stealing diesel in the Lakeview low-density suburb.
The gang allegedly murdered George Taruvunga (49) before soaking his body in oil and dumping it at the gate of his house.
Mashonaland West Acting provincial police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Aggary Jaure, told H-Metro that Taruvinga, of Chiedza, in Karoi, was a fuel dealer.
Taruvinga used to buy fuel from cross-border trucks at the 185 km peg along the Harare-Chirundu highway.
On the fateful day, May 4, at around 5 PM, a Toyota Fun Cargo, with seven occupants, parked at Taruvinga’s home, according to Asst. Insp. Jaure.
One of the gang members knocked at the door and Taruvinga’s wife, Simangaliso Tshuma (33), came out of the house.
He ordered Tshuma to bring some clean clothes for her husband, who was inside the vehicle so that he could change.
Asst. Insp. Jaure said Tshuma asked the gang what had happened to her husband and was told that he had been found stealing diesel. He said:
The deceased’s wife was in the company of Anthia Josiah, who is also a tenant at the same house, and they brought a pair of trousers, a shirt, and a jacket to the vehicle.
She saw her husband seated on the back seat, facing downwards, and his clothes were oiled as well as the feet of the gang.
The accused person instructed her wife to follow them to the police station and they drove off.
Tshuma said at around 1 PM [the following day], the gang brought back Taruvinga, dumped him and drove off at high speed. Added Asst. Insp. Jaure:
He struggled to stand up and was assisted by his wife to get into the house.
He began to vomit some blood and told his wife that he had been assaulted by the accused persons in Lakeview suburb, who were alleging that he had stolen diesel from their residence.
Tshuma insisted on taking her husband to the hospital but he refused.
Taruvinga died around 9 PM and the case was reported to the police.
Asst. Insp. Jaure said they observed the now deceased’s body lying on the floor, facing upwards covered with a blue blanket. She said:
A cloth was covering his mouth which had blood oozing. The back and forehead were swollen.
The criminal gang remains at large and has hitherto evaded capture.
