18 Mar 2024

Murder accused, Darlington Jayaguru will wait for June 4 to hear his fate in a case in which he is accused of killing his girlfriend, Joyce Tachiona.

Jayaguru is alleged to have doused Tachiona with paraffin, then set her alight in Kanye in July 2015.

The case hinged heavily on who started the fire, with the prosecution adamant that the accused set the deceased on fire following a misunderstanding, while the defence was resolute that the deceased was the one who set herself on fire after the accused told her that he wanted to end their relationship.

Defence lawyer, Mr Keorapele Sambere said available evidence, together with narration by witnesses, both state and defence, indicated that the accused had nothing to do with starting the fire.

“The accused indicated that he was on a phone call outside, behind the pit latrine with one Prince Murenje, a call that he ended abruptly when he saw the deceased coming out of the hut on fire, screaming for his help. This was even corroborated by the investigation officer who indicated that Murenje confirmed the narration when he interviewed him,” Mr Sambere said.

He said that effectively placed the accused away from where and when the fire started. 

He also said witnesses who were in the proximity also indicated that they saw Jayaguru running towards the deceased from the direction of the pit latrine.

He also informed the court that when she was screaming in pain, the deceased was calling the accused with his endearment names.

“If someone douses you with fire, how could you possibly run and ask for his help, calling him by third endearment names for that matter. It just defies logic,” he argued.

He added that some state witnesses who insisted that they heard the deceased saying that the accused was the one who doused her with paraffin and set her alight probably misunderstood her as she was speaking in Shona.

He said they misinterpreted her as they only heard the words ‘Darlington’ and ‘paraffin’ and concluded that she was saying that the accused doused and lit her up.

“Maybe she was just saying ‘Darlington help me, I have set myself alight with paraffin,’ he said. Sambere also said the accused had no motive to set the deceased alight, while on the other hand she had every reason to do so.

“It is not uncommon for human beings to take their own lives when they are faced with difficulties,” he said, and argued that the prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence.

For her part, Ms Neo Molelekwa from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions indicated that even though they indeed relied on circumstantial evidence and that the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge, they were able to prove that he was the one who doused and burnt the deceased.

Ms Molelekwa also admitted to the varying degrees by witnesses on how they saw the genesis of what transpired, adding however that the prosecution was able to place the accused at the centre of the occasions by his own admissions of having been around when the fire started.

“After the deceased was extinguished by neighbours, they asked the accused what happened and he told them he was the one who set her on fire. That is when they started assaulting him and he escaped,” she said.

She also said there was need to inspect contradicting narrations by the witnesses and the fact that the scene was chaotic might have led to contradictions.

“It is common that despite having seen or heard the same thing, no witnesses could recall it in exactly the same way,” she said. ENDS