By Tendai Makaripe
A 20-year-old Gweru man was recently sentenced to two life prison terms for killing two children by trapping them inside a hut and setting it on fire.
The court convicted Abel Mativenga of Watershed Farm of murdering Everjoy Mangena, 13, and Natasha Kanyama, 5, who died in a blaze that prosecutors said he deliberately started.
The killings happened in March last year, after Mativenga became enraged over allegations that his parents were witches, according to a statement by the National Prosecuting Authority.
The Court heard that Mativenga locked the children inside their bedroom hut, tied the door with wire to prevent them from escaping and used a lighter to ignite the structure.
He then fled and watched from a hiding place as neighbours tried and failed to rescue the girls, the statement said.
The hut collapsed, killing both children, whose bodies were later recovered with 100% burns.
The court imposed the maximum penalty after finding premeditation and deliberate entrapment in the killing of two minors, the authority said.
“This was a cruel, premeditated act that took two young lives,” read the statement in part.
