Jealousy and possessiveness over his beautiful wife could have led to a jilted policeman to kill his wife and mother-in-law.

The policeman, based at Vhulaudzi satellite police station in the Nzhelele area, is alleged to have followed his estranged wife to her home, together with their son. He is alleged to have had an argument with his wife on arrival at her home. After the argument, shots were fired which left his wife, Nyambeni Murigwathoho (29) and his mother-in-law, Mbengeni Murigwathoho (47) dead.

The suspect later handed himself and the fire-arm he used to the police at Siloam.

The shooting had left the closely knit community of Khalavha-Matavhani village outside Thohoyandou in a state of shock. An eyewitness, Gideon Thangavhuelela, who lives next door to the family and who is also related to the family, said he was at home during the attack. “I heard the sound of gunshots and immediately rushed out and was met by a young boy, who was shouting that his grandmother had been shot," he said.

He said he saw the suspect who was holding a fire-arm in his hand. He then went back and heard several gunshots. “I was shocked to the bone and thought he would come and finish me,” said Thangavhulela. He said after the shooting the man took his son away. “We rushed to the house, only to find that his wife and mother-in-law were dead,” he said. He added that the police soon arrived at the scene.

Ms Elisa Magau Nethomboni, the deceased´s sister, was very shocked. “My sister grew up very poor and we had thought that she would help her children grow and get educated, but all this is just a dream which will never come true,” she said. She said the relationship between the cop and his wife had never been a good one. She said they had quarrelled and fought on several occasions.

She said the beautiful wife had come back home, saying she was tired of being abused. “This man tried to kill our daughter on several occasions, and we reported the matter to the police, but they did nothing to help us,” said Nethomboni. “We are very saddened by these senseless killings. We do not know what to do as we do not have money to bury the two. We are very worried about the future of the kids that my sister has been taking care of as no one has been working in the family,” she said.

She said her sister made the family survive on the little she earned from the small vegetable garden that is next to the home. She added that the deceased helped her (Elisa´s) daughter to complete a computer course out of the meagre income she had made from selling vegetables.

Nyambeni was shot seven times. Her mother was shot in the chest while trying to escape. The killer came back and shot her again to make sure she was dead.

The accused was still to appear in court when Mirror went to press.

Meanwhile, another policeman from Makononi outside Thohoyandou recently killed his wife after accusing her of infidelity. The policeman, who was stationed in Mpumalanga, shot his wife several times and held his son hostage until police freed him and arrested the cop. Siloam police spokesperson Warrant Officer Livhuwani Nefale said the suspect would face a charge of murder.

He said investigations were continuing to determine what could have led to the shooting. "We discovered that he used his service pistol in the shootings," Nefale said. The suspect will appear in court soon.