A 23-YEAR-OLD Bulawayo Polytechnic student did not make it home on Monday evening after she was stabbed by a robber she had identified during mugging.
Inobubele Mhlanga was brutally stabbed by Thamsanqa Ndebele (26) and Euton Sebatha (36), after disembarking from a commuter omnibus near TM turnoff bus stop in Cowdray Park.
Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube confirmed the incident.
He said Mhlanga had identified the robber since they reside in the same neighbourhood.
“On November 4, at around 8:30pm, the now-deceased was found by passers-by lying in a pool of blood near TM turnoff bus stop in Cowdray Park, Bulawayo, with a penetrative wound above the right breast and several cuts on both hands,” Ncube said.
“She was ferried to Mpilo Central Hospital by a well-wisher and passed on while she was being attended to by a doctor.”
The following day at around 11:30am, police rounded up all the known robbery suspects and Playmore Mpofu (27) of Cowdray Park, who was held at the station as a suspect in a case of robbery, admitted that he often committed robbery cases around Cowdray Park area with Ndebele and Sebatha.
A follow-up through the help of members of the community was done, leading to the arrest of Ndebele and Sebatha in the Cowdray Park area.
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Ncube said Ndebele was interrogated and he admitted to have attacked the now-deceased and took away her hand bag containing US$30 with the help of his friend, Sebatha.
“He further stated that Sebatha stabbed the now-deceased because she had identified him since they reside in the same area and they knew each other,” he said.
Mhlanga was laid to rest yesterday at Luveve Cemetery in Bulawayo.
Police urged the public to prioritise neighbourhood watch committee patrols.
“Members of the public are urged to revive the neighbourhood watch committees not only for the purposes of patrols, but also as a way of fostering unity, peace and love among themselves,” Ncube said.
“An innocent life was lost because of sheer greed from people who knew the deceased and being a neighbour. The arrest of the two may assist relatives to find closure.”
