TWO Mabvuku residents, Fradreck Nhata and Forget Zhakata, have been charged with murder.

They allegedly assaulted an intruder, as part of mob justice.

They used baton sticks and left him on a footpath.

The suspected thief died from injuries sustained in the mob attack on the verandah of a resident he had sought help from.

The two were granted bail of $600 000 each by Harare magistrate Munashe Chibanda.

They were ordered to reside at their given addresses and report once a week at Mabvuku Police Station until the matter is finalised.

The court heard that on May 12, the two, and others still at large, assaulted the intruder, using baton sticks and sjamboks, accusing him of being a thief.

They allegedly left the man for dead on a footpath, and he managed to drag himself to seek help from a nearby house.

The resident found the man’s body in his verandah, at around 6am the next day and reported the matter to the police.

A post-mortem indicated that the cause of death was traumatic shock and intramuscular haemorrhage.

The police received information linking Nhata and Zhakata to the suspected thief’s death on Tuesday and arrested them.

Zororo Nkomo appeared for the State.

state media