Chelesani Sibanda (34) of Bulawayo appeared before Western Commonage magistrate Gladmore Mushove facing three counts of attempted murder after trying to kill his three minor children by making them ingest poison.
Sibanda’s relative, Decent Ndlovu, said the accused sent him a message before attempting the murder-suicide prompting him to call the police an ambulance. Said Ndlovu:
Sibanda sent me a message saying I should bury him together with his children and I immediately contacted the police and an ambulance.
I found them writhing in agony and I saw three packets of rat and cockroach poison beside the bed.
The accused allegedly hatched the plot to kill himself and the children after his wife left him for another man in South Africa.
The burden of taking care of the three minors on his own proved too much for him and he opted for murder. All the children survived after being rushed to the hospital.