Taxi driver brutally murdered and stashed in drain

Deceased taxi driver

THE decomposing body of a Chitungwiza taxi driver was yesterday found stashed in a drain, sparking a serious murder mystery.

 The drain is in front of Guzha Wholesale main entrance at Chikwanha Shopping Centre. The taxi driver had gone missing since Monday. It now appears the body of Misheck “Giant” Mafuya might have been lying unnoticed in the drain for some days, residents say.

“The corpse was only spotted this morning by vegetable vendors when they smelt a disgusting odour on their way from the market,” said one informal trader who preferred anonymity. “What surprises me is that we have been passing through this place everyday, coming from the pub. We never once suspected there might be a corpse in the drain, although there was a mild odour.

“It appears the man was murdered and his body stuffed into the drain,” said the informal trader. The taxi owner, Elija Mapanzure, supported that theory. He was visibly devastated. “My driver (Mafuya) went missing on Monday,” he said. “His family was concerned. “His wife is currently at the police station as I speak where she went to inquire about the whereabouts of her husband and report him as a missing person.

“I decided to make a police report. But a docket was not prepared. The police advised me to search for my driver as a missing person. I was in the process of doing that.” The taxi owner said he became curious when news of the decomposing corpse made the rounds at Chikwanha.

“When I heard that a decomposing body had been spotted here, I was anxious to establish the identity of the person since my driver had gone missing for some days. I got the shock of my life when I finally established that it was indeed my driver.” Before he had established Mafuya’s identity as the corpse, Mr Mapanzure had spotted his car at Chikwanha. “This morning, a friend of mine alerted me that he saw my car around Chikwanha (Shopping Centre) and we spotted a young boy trying to start my car (Nissan Sun, Reg No. 805-092Z).

“We then alerted the police and the boy was arrested. Right now he is assisting the police with investigations. My car has been taken to Makoni Police Station as well,” said Mapanzure. Mapanzure suspects his driver might have been attacked by robbers. “As it stands right now, we suspect that Mafuya was attacked by robbers. I can’t say much because the police are still making their own investigations.

“I will always miss his services. He was like a brother to me. “I only worked with him for the past two months and I can’t believe that I have lost a dedicated worker,” said Mapanzure, who also teaches Grade 6 in Chitungwiza. It was also clear that “Giant” was really popular in the community as scores of people gathered when his body was finally pulled out of the drain at around 2p.m.

His face was deformed and heavily mutilated, implying he might have been attacked with sharp objects. It may be blunt force to the head that Mafuya succumbed to. An autopsy is yet to be carried out. When the police searched Mafuya’s pockets, there was nothing implying he might have been robbed of his money.

There were also blood stains in the drain implying that he bled profusely at the time of death. Mafuya’s brother-in-law, Isaiah Chanetsa, cried uncontrollably when the remains of the late taxi driver were being retrieved from the drain. “I don’t know what to do without him right now.

“Mafuya was a friend and I don’t know how life will be without him. “We have been searching for mukuwasha around Chitungwiza and it’s painful that he is no more. We are just praying the law shall take its course,” said Chanetsa. Prominent Chitungwiza councillor, Tichaona Chapfika, was among people who gathered at Guzha Wholesale main entrance to catch a glimpse of the corpse.

He expressed his dismay at the number of such murder cases in Chitungwiza. “As a representative of the whole council’s special interest committee, I urge the police to erect a Police Post at Chikwanha. “We can’t afford to lose human life this way. “This is not the first time a similar case was reported and I feel it’s high time that people begin to respect human life.

It’s simply unacceptable, to say the least,” he said. H-Metro could not ascertain the burial arrangements of Mafuya since his next-of-kin were yet to be consulted. Mafuya is survived by wife Abigail Chanetsa and two children.