HARARE – A police officer was shot dead by her husband in Harare on Sunday night, hours after confronting him over allegations that he had been sexually abusing her 16-year-old daughter, police have said.
Sergeant Portia Dzanwa, 36, was stationed at ZRP Hatfield Traffic. Her husband, Pharaoh Dombodzvuku, 52, was arrested on a murder charge after allegedly attempting to take his own life with the same firearm.
According to an internal police memo seen by ZimLive, the teenager told her mother at around 3PM on Sunday that she had been in an intimate relationship with her stepfather, saying that on one occasion he had collected her from school and taken her to a lodge in Waterfalls, where they had had sexual intercourse.
Dzanwa confronted her husband, and the three agreed to report the matter at Southlea Park Police Station. Instead, police said, Dombodzvuku drove past the station and headed to his brother’s home in Hopley, saying he wanted to discuss the matter first.
The trio arrived at the brother’s home just after 9PM. Dombodzvuku allegedly instructed his brother to take the teenager inside while he remained in the vehicle with his wife to continue the discussion.
A short time later, the brother reportedly heard two gunshots and rushed outside, where he found the couple slumped in the front seats of the vehicle. Police said a CZ pistol loaded with a magazine containing 12 rounds was found on Dombodzvuku’s lap.
Dzanwa died at the scene. Her husband was taken to Sally Mugabe Hospital in a critical condition and remains under armed guard.
