21-year-old Form Four learner at Ruhwerimwe Secondary School in Makoni District took his own life on 17 November after being accused of stealing a cellphone.
Police said Andrew Mawone of Mupambawahle Village denied the allegations but could not handle the pressure of being accused of committing the offence.
Teachers at Ruhwerimwe Secondary School, fellow pupils, and his own parents were all convinced that he had stolen the cellphone.
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson in Manicaland Province, Inspector Norbert Muzondo, confirmed the incident. He said:
“On November 17, Andrew was at home with his father when he was approached by a Form One student and her uncle. The student accused Mawone of stealing her phone at school during examination time.
Mawone denied the allegations, but his father insisted that he should return the phone as he had been seen with a similar cellphone.
Mawone highlighted that the cellphone he had been seen holding was his friend’s, adding that he had returned it.
However, Mawone’s father advised the aggrieved party to make a police report.”
After the other student and her uncle left, Mawone left home and did not return that day.
Mawone’s body was found by his brother the following morning hanging from a guava tree.
