Man suspected to have burnt lover to death for not bearing children

 

Zimbabwean national, Darlington Jayaguru confessed in court this week that he cheated on his deceased girlfriend Joyce Tachiona because she was unable to bear him children.

This is what is suspected to have led to the death of Tachiona in the year 2015 in Goo Ruele ward in Kanye. Her ex-lover, Jayaguru, now stands accused of murdering her.

However, Jayaguru is fighting hard to prove his innocence before Judge Omphemetse Motumisi of Gaborone High Court.

During cross examination by the state, Jayaguru said he and the deceased started dating sometime in November 2011, adding that he was fascinated by the fact that they were both in a foreign land.

At the time, the accused was 22 years old and Tachiona 33. His family and friends were not happy about the relationship firmly believing that his lover was much older than him and that they separate.

But Jayaguru loved Tachiona so much that he even dumped his girlfriend back home so that he focuses on his new flame in Botswana.

They were happily in love but according to Jayaguru, sometime in 2013, Tachiona fell pregnant and went on to terminate the pregnancy without first informing him.

This left him disappointed. He was very hurt because he wanted a child. Nonetheless, she apologised and they continued dating.

However, it was hard for Tachiona to fall pregnant again and the pain was unbearable.

Although they loved each other, failing to have a child was painful so much that it even brought arguments in their relationship.

Jayaguru said that Tachiona began suspecting that he was having an affair and was not happy. She accused him of cheating but he denied it.

Although Tachiona had no proof that her man was cheating on her, Jayaguru confessed that he was indeed cheating on her.

He was dating Glaris, the woman he had left for Tachiona back in 2011.

“I loved her, the only problem that was there was not having a child. I told her that without a child, I was ready to leave her.

“I wanted a solid relationship with someone but when I discovered that with the deceased, a child was not coming, I went back to my former girlfriend.

“I told her of my intentions to leave and she said she will find me a woman who will give me a child but I refused. She did not know that I had gone back to my former girlfriend,” he told court.

He said that on the fateful day that Tachiona died, he was with her in the house when he received calls from Glaris. An argument ensued between them leading to Tachiona storming out of the house where she would 'strangely' catch fire.

Jayaguru insists that Tachiona somehow set fire on herself because while he remained in the house, he heard screams and cries, and when he rushed out to her, she found her burning and telling him that she burnt herself.

He also told court that Tachiona had during one of their arguments threatened that she would hang herself if Jayaguru went out leaving her at home.

Punching holes on Jayaguru's narration of what happened with Tachiona, the state represented by Neo Molelekwa argued that in a statement by one Prince Murenje who is a friend of Jayaguru, he was on a call with the accused when he (accused) suddenly hung up only to tell him later that Tachiona had burned herself.

And that prior to that, Jayaguru had asked Prince for advice on how to tell Tachiona that he was cheating on her and about a missing condom.

The state said when giving evidence earlier in court, Jayaguru said Tachiona came to him crying, calling his name asking him to call her mother and sister because she was dying.

“I put it to you that you are lying and misleading this court, you have never shared before that she told you that she burnt herself, when you were giving evidence you said you are not sure what caused the fire,” the state counsel said.

The case continues this week at Gaborone High Court.