A 54-year-old man from Mutanda Village under Chief Bota is alleged to have killed an ECD B learner, claiming the child was turning into a goblin.
The suspect, Davis Mafume, appeared before Zaka Magistrate Grace Tupiri this week, facing a charge of murder.
According to the State outline, on 4 June 2026 at around 6:30 am, the young boy, an ECD B pupil at Vhudizi Primary School, left home for school.
After classes, he returned home but found no one there, as his grandparents had accompanied his mother to Jerera Growth Point. Around 6 pm, the child went to his aunt’s homestead, where Mafume was drinking beer.
The accused later offered to escort the boy home, but along the way, he allegedly struck him several times on the head with a hoe, killing him.
TellZim News reported sources close to the investigation as saying that when police questioned Mafume, he gave a disturbing explanation, claiming he saw the child transforming into a goblin and decided to kill him.
Police attended the scene and recovered the hoe, which has been taken in as an exhibit. The child’s body was taken to a local mortuary for a post-mortem examination.
The accused, who is the younger brother of the child’s maternal grandfather, was arrested at around 12:20 am on 5 June 2026.
Bail was opposed on the grounds that the accused was likely to abscond, could interfere with witnesses, and that the investigating officer needed time to complete the docket. Mafume was remanded in custody.
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