She was a dedicated single parent who worked hard to support her six children, the youngest being two years old. One Thursday, she went to work and never came back …

She was gang-raped and brutally murdered and her body was later discovered at her vegetable garden near the Mutale River. A tablecloth had been placed on her mouth and her hands were tied behind her back, while her underwear was cut off with a knife and placed next to her lifeless body. This is the painful story of Maria Tendani Baloyi (39) of Tshilavulu village, outside Tshilamba.

Two illegal Zimbabwean immigrants, only known as Bra Joe and Mufunzi, who haboured themselves in makeshift huts in the village bush, are now in police custody, thanks to the quick response from the police and the local community.

Ms Baloyi worked as a general worker for the Mutale Delmon Green Company, a producer of flowering plants based at Makonde-Shadani and she was due to be promoted to a senior position in due course. She was a staunch member of the Apostolic Unity Church. Her family was surprised to learn that she did not return from work while efforts to call her on her phone remained fruitless because it was off.

The discovery of her lifeless body sent shock waves through the Mutale Municipal area because this is the third violent death in the past five months. After the alleged ritual murder of Shonisani Thinandavha of Mulodi village, a granny and her grandson were burnt to death at Ha-Makuya last month.

Maria was given an emotional send-off at her home village of Tshilavulu on Saturday. The funeral was attended by hundreds of mourners who included politicians, traditional leaders, the clergy and business people.

During the funeral, the Mayor of Mutale Municipality, Cllr Lucas Manyuha, appealed to members of the community to stop habouring illegal immigrants. He added that there is a need to make Mutale a crime-free zone where people will live in peace and harmony. "As community leaders, we are very concerned about the high number of violent deaths in this area. Those who are doing this must be removed completely from our communities. Lets us all spread the message that it is wrong to keep illegal immigrants because it is against the law. It is sad because Maria was the only breadwinner for all her six kids who are all still at school. It is our joint responsibility to make sure that the kids are being looked after. Our municipality has been successfully waging the war against poverty but is it pains us when other people are increasing poverty by killing innocent breadwinners. We are only waiting for the law to take its course."

Headman Philemon Nethengwe of Tshilavulu village was equally shocked by Maria’s unexpected, violent death. "This is the first horrible death of its kind in my village. How on earth can normal people kill an innocent person like this? They deserve to spend long sentences in jail."

Mohammad Attieh of Mutale Delmon Green Company said Maria was a dedicated worker who sacrificed her life for the development of the company. "It is a terrible loss to lose someone like Maria, who was one of the pillars for our company. Her spirit of dedication and hard work will always be with us until the end of the world."