Story by Kenias Chivuzhe
RESIDENTS of Mutare have been left in shock after the suspected cruel murder of a 34-year-old woman by her United States-based boyfriend.
34-year-old Yvonne Mitchel Mafuta breathed her last on the 22nd of this month on a day she was supposed to be enjoying the company of her foreign-based lover.
While police investigations are still underway, family members are yet to come to terms with what transpired.
“I last talked to her on Monday in the afternoon, but when I called on Tuesday she did not answer. I tried to reach out to her on Wednesday, but again she did not respond. We went to her house and broke in only to see her motionless. The house was ransacked, and we suspect she was suffocated. We are waiting for answers,” said Yvonne’s sister, Catherine.
The alleged callous murder has been condemned by various quarters, amid calls for women to avoid online dating.
“The callous murder of Yvonne is painful and has sent shivers down our spine. There was blood on the bed with the house searched. It is said that she had a lover who is yet to be identified. I urge young women not to date online and the family is wondering what could have happened. The taxi driver is saying he ferried a man to her house before he was sent to buy food,” said Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Women Affairs, Community and Small and Medium Enterprises Development chairperson, Honourable Getrude Mutandi.
According to a police memo, on the 21st of this month the deceased hired a taxi to ferry her male friend whom she claimed was coming from the United States.
Mafuta is understood to have advised the taxi driver that she would contact him the following day to take the unidentified visitor to the bus terminus, but she never called back.
Upon hearing what transpired, Mafuta’s sister and friend broke into her locked house and found the deceased motionless before making a police report.
