By A Correspondent- A 70-year-old grandpa has appeared in a Beitbridge court for allegedly fatally stabbing his suspected lover who was married to his friend and neighbour.

Juta Makoni of Chabeta village under headman Siyoka is said to have ripped open the abdomen of his victim Salfina Ndou who died as a result of the attack.

He is also alleged to have stabbed his victim on the hand and later turned the weapon on himself in an unsuccessful suicide attempt.

It is alleged that on May 3, in violation of the COVID-19 lockdown, Makoni and his friend Tambulo Moyo, Ndou’s husband, engaged in a drinking binge.

Makoni later escorted Moyo and after seeing him safely home and indoors, he left for his own homestead.

He returned that night to see Ndou after which an argument ensued resulting in the fatal assault.

Moyo, who is believed to have been dead drunk, did not hear anything, but woke up next to his dead wife who had fallen on their bed after the attack.

But Ndou and Moyo’s child Meritha, awoken by the melee in her parents’ hut, witnessed the unfolding drama through a window, the State claims.

Meritha alerted other villagers who apprehended Makoni, who after realising that he had committed murder, slipped into the night and tried to commit suicide.

Makoni appeared in a court which sat in the male ward of Beitbridge District Hospital and was presided over by magistrate Annia Chimweta, who did not ask for a plea.

Makoni was remanded in custody for two weeks to allow for further investigations and confirmation of his statement in line with procedure.

Oswell Arufandi prosecuted.-Newsday