Gibson Chidzanga, a 33-year-old Beitbridge man locked his wife and two children in a room and set it ablaze resulting in the death of his nine-month-old daughter following a dispute with his wife over a text message.
He has appeared before the courts facing murder charges.
What happened:
Prosecutor Mr Pithey Magumula told the court that on 13 December, Gibson Chidzanga arrived at his rented house in the Dulivhadzimu suburb around midnight.
He then stumbled on a text message on his wife’s cellphone which led to a misunderstanding between the two.
Chidzanga threatened to burn the house with his wife and two children inside.
After that, he forced his family into one room and took a gas tank from the kitchen and lit it and fled from the scene.
The tank then burst into a huge fireball which spread across the house and his wife managed to escape with one child.
Efforts to rescue the nine-month-old child were fruitless as the fire raged on, resulting in the toddler being burnt to death.
Arrest:
A report was then made to the police resulting in Chidzanga’s arrest the following day.
He was not asked to plead when he appeared before Miss Ania Chimweta at the Beitbridge Magistrate Courts on Friday.
Chidzanga was remanded in custody until 30 December.