The Sunday News
Peter Matika, Senior Reporter
A BULAWAYO City Council employee, who allegedly murdered his girlfriend last Saturday over a text message and had been on the run, has been apprehended, after trying to commit suicide.
Police confirmed that Absolom Ndlovu was under police guard, where he is recovering at a local private hospital. It has also since emerged that Ndlovu was married and had been in an illicit affair, with the late Mhoya.
Bulawayo Provincial acting police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Nomalanga Msebele said Ndlovu was unconscious and under police guard.
“We managed to place him under guard on Monday. Police were being assisted by his wife with investigations. His wife informed police that he had told her that he was attending a funeral in Kumalo suburb and would later travel to his rural home in Ntabazinduna. It was after another call that she was informed that he had fallen seriously ill and was being taken to hospital. That is when she informed us and we placed police at the hospital,” said Ass. Ins. Msebele.
She said police suspected that he may have ingested some poison and were waiting for him to regain consciousness to proceed with investigations.
According to reports, Ndlovu is suspected to have strangled his girlfriend Ms Vonai Mhoya (29) of Mpopoma suburb and is now on the run.
The two are said to have sought intervention from Ms Mhoya’s mother who offered counseling to the couple on Saturday night after they fought over the message.
Sources said the couple appeared to have resolved their differences and they returned to Ms Mhoya’s house.
Ndlovu is suspected to have killed his girlfriend during the night and left a note.
The note read: “Nanso isiphetho sesiwule lonaLinda uyalandela. Lisale kuhle mawule afuze unina yimi elimzondayo elifuna imali yakhe. (This is the end result of prostitution and Linda’s mother is next. Farewell you prostitutes who are like your mother. I’m the one you hate, whose money you are after). ”
A source close to the family said Ms Mhoya and Ndlovu were last seen on Saturday at around 8PM. Ms Mhoya’s lifeless body was discovered yesterday morning by her mother.
The source said after the mother’s mediation, the couple went back to their house. In the morning at around 10AM Mhoya’s mother tried to call her but she was not picking the calls, which prompted her to visit the house.
“She found the door locked from outside with a padlock and all the windows were closed. The mother tried calling again and the phone was ringing inside the house,” said the source.
The source said Vonai’s mother checked for the keys and found them under the doormat. She then opened the door and was greeted by the lifeless body of her daughter.
