HARARE — A police sergeant was shot dead and her husband critically injured in an apparent murder-attempted suicide in Hopley on Sunday night, hours after she confronted him over allegations involving her 16-year-old daughter, according to an internal police memorandum.
Sergeant Portia Dzanwa, 36, who was stationed at ZRP Hatfield Traffic, was found dead inside a vehicle at a house in Hopley Zone 5 at around 9 p.m. on Aug. 16.
Her husband, Pharaoh Dombodzvuku, 52, was found unconscious and bleeding in the driver’s seat and was rushed to Sally Mugabe Central Hospital in critical condition under armed police guard.
According to the police memorandum seen by _Kukurigo_, the incident followed a disclosure made earlier in the day by Dzanwa’s 16-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.
Police said the teenager told her mother at around 3 p.m. that she had been involved in an intimate relationship with her stepfather.
The teenager alleged that on one occasion Dombodzvuku collected her from school and took her to a lodge in Waterfalls, where they had sex, according to the memorandum.
_Kukurigo_ is withholding the teenager’s name, school and other identifying information because she is a minor.
Dzanwa confronted her husband over the allegations and the three agreed to go to ZRP Southlea Park to make a police report, the memo said.
Dombodzvuku then drove his wife and stepdaughter from their Southlea Park home towards the police station.
However, police said he decided to first visit his older brother, Trymore Dombodzvuku, at his home in Hopley Zone 5 to discuss the matter.
The three arrived at the house at around 9 p.m.
According to the police account, Dombodzvuku asked his brother to take his stepdaughter inside the house while he and Dzanwa remained in the vehicle to discuss the issue.
A short while later, his brother heard two gunshots coming from outside.
He went to the vehicle and found Dzanwa and Dombodzvuku unconscious and bleeding in the front seats, police said.
Dzanwa was subsequently confirmed dead.
Police said a CZ pistol with a magazine containing 12 rounds was found on Dombodzvuku’s lap.
His brother took possession of the firearm and rushed to ZRP Southlea Park to report the shooting.
A Southlea Park police night patrol attended the scene and found Dzanwa lifeless, while Dombodzvuku was still alive but in critical condition.
He was rushed to Sally Mugabe Central Hospital for treatment and placed under armed police guard.
CID Homicide detectives were called to the scene and investigations are underway.
The internal police memorandum classified the case as murder and attempted suicide.
