A MAN killed his wife in a frenzied knife attack, then slit the throat of her two-day-old baby by another man before hanging himself, police said Thursday.
Letina Muleya died from her knife wounds, and Mboneni Sibanda was found hanging on a tree just meters away after the tragedy in the small village of Makhado, some 100km west of Beitbridge town.
Amazingly, the baby survived the attack but remains in critical condition at Beitbridge District Hospital.
Police say Sibanda, 39, left his wife to seek work in South Africa four years ago and had made several trips home during that period.
He decided to return home for good last month, but discovered his wife was pregnant by another man in the village, Chief Superintendent Charles Nhengo of Beitbridge Police said.
When Muleya gave birth on November 5, police say this created a combustible atmosphere leading to the double homicide in the early hours of Tuesday this week.
Chief Superintendent Chinhengo said Muleya and Sibanda started arguing on Monday night, and continued the row into early Tuesday when he grabbed a knife and repeatedly stabbed her. She died instantly.
“He also tried to slit the baby’s throat and left it for dead,” Chinhengo said.
Police say Sibanda then hanged himself on a tree 100 meters from their homestead.
A passerby saw his body and rushed to his home to find his wife lying in a pool of blood, dead. Her baby lay next to her, gasping for breath.
“The baby is admitted to Beitbridge District Hospital where its condition is critical,” said Chief Sup Chinhengo.