By Own Correspondent- Communities here were left shell shocked when a 23 year old man stoned to death his 88-year-old grandfather William Danda accusing him of witchcraft.

After committing the grisly murder on Sunday night in Gudyanga Village near Birchenough Bridge, Andrew Muchirawetu burnt the body of his grandfather.

He was however arrested and is currently in police custody.

Muchirawetu’s uncle Liberty Danda told the Manica Post that the accused has a history of mental illness:

“I came here early in the morning around 5 am after I heard people calling out for help. The house was on fire. On arrival I found the deceased’s body burning. There were several deep cuts on the body.

It was clear to me that he had been murdered before being set on fire. In fact, he must have been stoned to death because there were stones all over the place. The stones had blood stains which suggested that they had been used to inflict pain on the deceased. It was a scary sight but I had to put out the fire.

Since he came back from South Africa mid last year, he had always been complaining that his grandfather is bewitching him. In fact, he had been showing signs of mental illness. When I asked him why he had committed the crime, he remained silent. He was not even remorseful.”