By Paul Katanda

A HARARE man has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for the murder of one Jemias Bangu at Sam Marange’s carpark in Whitehouse, Harare.

The tragic incident occurred on the night of July 2, 2016 when Felix Muteve, in the company of four others, fatally assaulted the now-deceased.

Court heard that Bangu had lost his way due to drunkenness and found himself in the guarded carpark.

However, Muteve assumed he was a thief and went on to assault him throughout the whole night.

High Court judge, Justice Davison Moses Foroma, established in his judgement,  death by assault, supported by a pathologist report presented before the court.

“The deceased was subjected to brutal assaults when he was in the offender’s captivity, resulting in him sustaining wounds from which he died,” he said.

He also said a custodial 20-year jail sentence will serve as an example to anyone who might even think of committing an offence of this nature.

“The court finds that capital punishment would not be warranted in the circumstances of this case,” the judge added.

“However, a sentence which will send the correct message to the offender and any likeminded is called for.

“Such message is that taking the law into one’s own hands and causing loss of human life is not tolerated by the law.”

The court took into account the fact that the offender initially thought Bangu was as a thief and that the deceased was caught in guarded premises during the night.