The family of Detective Constable Cassandra Hove, a Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) officer who was killed while reportedly pursuing armed robbers, has accused authorities of handling her death in an unprofessional and opaque manner.
Hoveโs father, Chikauriso Hove, has engaged the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) to demand clarity over the circumstances surrounding her death. The rights group has since written to ZRP Bulawayo Central, giving police a seven-day ultimatum to provide tangible details about the incident. Copies of the letter were also sent to the Officer in Charge at Pumula Police Station, the Officer Commanding Bulawayo Province, ZRP Commissioner-General Stephen Mutamba, and Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe.
In a statement, ZLHR confirmed they were assisting the family in their quest for justice. โWe are assisting the family of Detective Constable Cassandra Hove, a slain ZRP officer, who died recently while reportedly pursuing armed robbers, which is protesting against the clandestine and unprofessional manner in which the death of the police officer is being handled,โ ZLHR said.
Hove accused the police of failing to provide the family with official updates, forcing them to rely on second-hand information.
The family recently learned that a police officer had allegedly confessed to killing Cassandra. โWe are greatly concerned about allegations that she may have met her fate at the hands of one of her colleagues,โ Hove stated.
Constable Nomore Muradzikwa (37), stationed at Hillside Police Station, who reportedly confessed to fatally shooting Hove appeared before Bulawayo Magistrate Maxwell Ncube on Tuesday facing a murder charge.
READ: https://cite.org.zw/police-officer-in-court-for-fatal-shooting-of-cid-detective/
Muradzikwa and Hove were part of team tracking down a suspected robber in Pumula South.
According to the State, Muradzikwa, armed with a CZ pistol, fired at robbery suspect Fikile Ncube, hitting his elbow. The bullet ricocheted, fatally striking Hove in the chest.
ZLHR also raised alarm over the actions of Cassandraโs colleague, Lethokuhle Sibanda, who reportedly completed forms authorising a post-mortem without consulting the family. โThe family is alarmed at the allegations raised about the conduct of one Lethokuhle Sibanda, who had reportedly completed some forms authorising the carrying out of a post-mortem on the body of the deceased person without consulting his family,โ ZLHR said.
The family further alleged that Sibanda visited Cassandraโs home after her death, demanding details about her property and mobile phones from her children. โAfter Cassandra had been shot, the same Sibanda visited the deceased personโs residence, where she found the late law enforcement agentโs children and demanded certain information pertaining to her residential properties and demanded her mobile phones, but her children refused to comply after getting guidance from their relatives,โ ZLHR noted.
Hove also claimed that Sibanda had received R3000 from Luveve residents as a funeral contribution but did not hand it over to the family.
Additionally, the family was not officially informed when a suspect, Fikile Ncube, was arrested in connection with Cassandraโs death. โThe family had also received information that a suspect, named Fikile Ncube, had been arrested by ZRP officers on the night when Cassandra died in connection to her death, but this information was not officially communicated to the family or his relatives,โ ZLHR said.
During a meeting with ZRP officials on 8 March, the family was told that Cassandra was shot with a police-issued firearm, contradicting earlier accounts.
โOn 8 March 2025, Hove said he attended a meeting together with his relatives with the Officer In Charge of CID Homicide in Bulawayo and other ZRP officials, where he was informed that the preliminary findings were that his daughter had been shot by a police issued firearm contrary to what the family had been told before and efforts to get full information as to what could have happened to his daughter were futile as the ZRP officials were not forthcoming,โ ZLHR said.
After struggling to obtain full details, the family reluctantly agreed to bury Cassandra in Mberengwa, with police promising to keep them updated. However, after receiving no further communication, they filed a murder case at ZRP Pumula Police Station on 13 March.
