Tawanda Muchehiwa, a nephew to investigative journalist and ZimLive editor Mduduzi Mathuthu who was abducted and brutally assaulted by suspected state security agents, on Tuesday appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Shepherd Mjanja in compliance with the High Court order.
The order, which was issued on Saturday by Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Martin Makonese, mandated the police to investigate the whereabouts of Muchehiwa and locate him within 72 hours.
Muchehiwa, who sustained severe injuries on his buttocks, had to be transported to Tredgold magistrate’s court in a police ambulance and was accompanied by a medical doctor from a local medical centre where he is receiving treatment.
His lawyer, Nqobani Sithole of Ncube Attorneys in an interview told CITE that due his condition, they tried to negotiate with the magistrate to confirm Muchehiwa’s identity from the ambulance but the magistrate insisted that the victim be brought to the court premises.
Sithole said they have since filed a report of kidnapping at Queenspark police station.
In his ruling, Justice Makonese ordered Muchehiwa to be brought before the magistrate courts within three days from 1 August.
“The respondents be and are hereby ordered and directed to investigate the whereabouts of Tawanda Muchehiwa and produce them at the magistrate’s court, Tredgold Building, within 72 hours of granting of this order. The 72 hours aforementioned shall commence to run from14:00hrs on Saturday August 1, 2020,” the Judge ordered.
Muchehiwa’s captors, according to Mathuthu, chained and tortured him for two days and at some point forced him to drink his urine.
According to a medical report seen by CITE, Muchehiwa has acute kidney injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suffered extensive bruising on both buttocks.
