A 26-year-old man was found hanging from the roof of his bedroom after a misunderstanding with his live-in girlfriend.
Amkela Nxumalo of Combo village near Shangani was found dead on 23 September after he allegedly committed suicide following an altercation with Gugulethu Dliwayo (24) and a rival suitor Dumisani Ncube.
He was buried on Sunday amid suspicions of foul play by Nxumalo’s family.
The police allegedly treated the matter as a suicide after interrogating family members on what happened prior to them finding Amkela hanging.
Cuthbert Gumbo, the family spokesperson, said Amkela left a suicide note in his cellphone which read more like a distress call than a suicide note.
Amkela had attended a party at a neighbouring homestead together with his girlfriend on Saturday evening where a fight broke out between him and the host Dumisani Ncube. They fought over Dliwayo.
“He assaulted Gugu before leaving the party as things got messy,” said Gumbo.
Nxumalo’s sister, Pretty Grandie was to later receive threats and warnings via text message referring to Amkela from Dliwayo who was angered by the assault. She was still at the party.
Grandie said Dliwayo bragged that her other boyfriend, Ncube and his gang members, who were not named, were in hot pursuit of Amkela and would not spare his life if they got hold of him.
“Gugu phoned me more than once that night then at around 1 am she just said: ‘Your brother has messed with the wrong person. Dumisani and his gang are hot on his heels as I speak. Don’t say I did not warn you when you find him dead’,” said Grandie.
Grandie said she feared for her brother’s life but did not take the death threats seriously until they found him hanging on a rope from his bedroom’s roof.
“It shocked us all, and I was not even in a position to break the news to the police when they came to collect the body, I did not want to cause drama but just wanted this to pass,” she said.
His body was taken to the United Bulawayo Hospitals mortuary that afternoon. Gumbo said the hospital authorities had said a post mortem was not necessary. However, when they collected the body for burial, they noticed that an autopsy had been performed on the deceased.
He said it puzzled the family, why the hospital would perform a post mortem and not give an explanation to the family on why it was conducted and what the findings were.
“We want to know what the findings of the post mortem were. It would probably give us closure.
Grandie said the position in which they found the deceased did not convince the family that he had indeed committed suicide.
“His feet were both steadily resting on the floor and he was in a semi-kneeling position. It is as if he was just hung there after some assailants had killed him. We suspect foul play,” said Grandie.
Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Eveline Makonese could not be reached for comment.
Ncube, an umalayitsha has since gone back to South Africa. – B-Metro
