A man suspected of having had a hand in the brutal killing of a local man a fortnight ago, bore the wrath of the people´s anger, when his house was completely destroyed.

The man, who stays at Maniini and whom residents linked to the disappearance and subsequent discovery of a dead body, was forced by the community to leave his home last week. The suspect, whose name is known to this paper, is alleged to have been the last one to be seen with the dead man, Livhuwani Tshibatha Ntavhanyeni.

The mother of the alleged killer, gogo Mudangawe Nemakwelengwe, made headlines last week when she dared the community to kill her, rather than for her to leave her home. She was finally persuaded by police to leave the area, but some members of the family seemingly did not leave.

Neigbours of the suspect said they heard some noises at about 09:00 on Thursday. A neighbour, who did not want to be identified, said she did not go out as she was afraid that she could be killed if she identified the perpetrators. The four-roomed house was completely destroyed.

Ntavhanyeni went missing a fortnight ago, for three days, and his body was discovered at the nearby Luvuvhu River. After the discovery, angry community members went on the rampage, threatening to take the law into their own hands if the family of the suspected killer did not vacate their house and leave the area.

The local traditional leader, Chief Gilbert Tshikovha, police and community leaders calmed the residents down and appealed to them to wait for the post mortem results. After the results were made known, enraged community members marched to the home of the suspect as it was believed some members of the family were still there.

It was only through the timely intervention by the police that a nasty situation was averted.

On Saturday, after the funeral, angry community members went on the rampage, putting piles of stones on the main street that made it impossible for cars to pass. Police had to use riot control vehicles to remove some of the stones to make way for traffic. Police also assisted the remaining members of the suspect´s family to pack their belongings before whisking them to safety.

Reacting to the news that the family had finally vacated their home, Daphne Ntavhanyeni, the sister of the deceased, said she was happy. She said she would not be happy to see them moving around the village as police did not want to arrest the alleged suspect. “My brother is gone, but I would be very glad to see the perpetrators behind bars and rot in jail,” she said.

Thohoyandou police spokesperson Captain Mashudu Malelo said they had opened a malicious damage to property docket in respect of the damaged house belonging to the suspect. He said investigations were continuing and they hoped to make arrests soon.

Malelo said they were still investigating the murder charge in respect of the deceased Livhuwani Ntavhanyeni and urged communities to come forward with information that could help them crack the case. He urged residents to desist from taking the law into their own hands, saying police efforts to track down killers would be compromised while dealing with the community.

Meanwhile, Mirror has been reliably informed that the suspect ´s family is in limbo after residents of the village where they had sought refuge had chased them away.