Staff Reporter
A leaked internal police memorandum has detailed a gruesome murder, in which a woman’s headless body was discovered in the early hours of yesterday, in Manyozo Village, Chief Rusambo, Rushinga, where Grace Murenza, aged 28, was found decapitated at her brother’s homestead.
The document, marked "Murder as Defined by Section 47 of the Criminal Law Codification Chapter 9:23," outlined the grim discovery made by the deceased’s daughter, 12-year-old Prisca Kamuriwo, who stumbled upon the blood-soaked scene as she went to collect her school uniform.
The child opened the door to find her mother’s lifeless body, headless and sprawled on the floor, in what authorities described as a brutal act of violence.
The chilling memorandum from the Officer in Charge of Rushinga to the Officer Commanding Mt. Darwin revealed that the victim, who had been in a prolonged dispute with her estranged husband, David Manuwere, may have been dragged to her death.
A pool of blood was found outside the house, with bloodstains on the walls and a trail leading to the room where the body lay.
Murenza’s head, however, was nowhere to be found, and no weapon was recovered at the scene.
According to the report, the night before her death, Grace had taken her bed from her brother Banabas Murenza’s homestead to her mother’s nearby house, about 50 meters away.
At around 5:30 a.m., her daughter discovered the horrifying scene and immediately alerted her grandmother, 76-year-old Rhoda Murenza.
Banabas later reported the case to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) in Rushinga, prompting an investigation that has since rocked the quiet rural community.
The police investigation is now focusing on the prime suspect, Manuwere, also known as David Meja, who has a history of criminal behaviour.
Recently convicted of stock theft and sentenced to eight months imprisonment (four suspended), Manuwere had reportedly clashed with Grace over the case. The couple’s relationship had soured following Manuwere’s conviction, with Grace opting for separation, a decision he refused to accept.
In a twist that intensifies suspicion, the leaked memo notes that on the evening before the murder, Manuwere phoned Grace, allegedly stating that he was coming to see her, though he never showed up.
As the search for the missing head continues and authorities scramble to piece together the evidence, the headless body of Grace Murenza remains at Chimhanda Hospital mortuary, awaiting a post-mortem examination.
The grisly details of this case have left the local community reeling, with many questioning how such an atrocity could occur without a trace of the perpetrator or the missing head.
While the next of kin have been notified, this leaked police memo sheds a disturbing light on the darker undercurrents of domestic disputes gone terribly wrong, with Rushinga now thrust into the spotlight as investigators work to solve this gruesome murder.
