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Tafadzwa Shamba and Tapiwa Makore (Senior), convicted of the gruesome murder of seven-year-old Tapiwa Makore (Junior), have had their death sentences substituted with life imprisonment by the Supreme Court.
The ruling, delivered on Monday, follows their conviction in 2023 by the Harare High Court for the heinous crime.
The young Tapiwa Makore (Junior) tragically disappeared on September 17, 2020.
His uncle, Tapiwa Makore (Senior), and his herdboy, Tafadzwa Shamba, were later implicated in his murder.
A search was launched by family, neighbors, and villagers in the Makore Village of Murehwa, but yielded no immediate success in finding the boy alive.
Disturbingly, the child’s dismembered remains were eventually discovered at the premises of one of the accused.
His body, notably missing its head and both hands, had been crudely severed and was found after being dragged by dogs.
Subsequent investigations led to the discovery of some of his missing limbs in various locations, including a disused village pit latrine.
The evidence strongly suggested that the young boy had been killed for ritual purposes.
Following their conviction for murder in 2023 and the initial imposition of the death penalty by the High Court, Shamba and Makore (Senior) automatically had a right to appeal to the Supreme Court.
However, a development occurred in Zimbabwe’s legal landscape in 2023 with the abolition of the death penalty.
The Supreme Court could not uphold the original sentence and instead substituted it with life imprisonment for both convicts.
This ruling brings a close to the legal proceedings in this disturbing case.
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