A 37-year-old resident of Mudadisi village outside Beit Bridge allegedly struck a fellow villager to death, following a misunderstanding, before he then committed suicide.

The local police provincial spokesperson, Assistant Charity Mazula, said that the incident happened on Tuesday night at Mudadisi village. The deceased was identified as Tiritose Shandu (40) of the same village.

Mazula said that at around 18:00 on the day of the incident, the suspect, Chamunorwa Munashe, and Shandu were drinking beer at a local business centre when a misunderstanding arose over whose turn it was to buy the next round.

Shandu then decided to leave and went home. At home he asked his brother's wife, Ms Patricia Chinondo (35) to prepare food for him, since his wife was away. At around 20:00, Munashe arrived at the homestead and demanded payment from Ms Chinondo for work he had done in her garden. “Shandu intervened and advised him to come the following day for his money, but Munashe allegedly insisted on being paid immediately.

"Shandu allegedly forced Munashe out of the homestead and, on reaching the edge of the yard, Munashe allegedly picked up an axe handle and struck Shandu on the head before running away. The victim fell to the ground and bled profusely, while calling out for help,” she said.

The victim was only taken to the local hospital the following morning after a police report had been made, and he died a few hours later.

The police could not arrest Munashe as, two days after the death of the victim, Munashe was found hanging from a tree by a villager who was on her way to Shandu's funeral.

Mazula said Munashe's body was taken to a local hospital mortuary for a post mortem.