HARARE – The family of traffic police officer Sergeant Portia Dzanwa has refused an offer of 3 cows and US$500 from her in-laws, saying the gesture is not enough to secure her burial while they are still demanding answers over her death.
Dzanwa, 36, was shot dead inside a parked vehicle in Hopley Zone 5, Harare, after a family dispute involving her 16-year-old daughter. Her husband, Pharaoh Dombodzvuku, 52, a former member of the Police Special Constabulary, allegedly turned a CZ pistol on her before shooting himself. He survived and was admitted to Sally Mugabe Central Hospital under police guard.
The officer has not yet been laid to rest as the two families remain divided over compensation and the circumstances that led to the fatal shooting. A close relative said Dzanwa’s family was still grieving and would not allow the burial arrangements to proceed without a fuller response from the in-laws.
“We are still in pain, Sergeant Dzanwa is yet to buried. In-laws are demanding money, hanzi tinoda mhere. Kwakaendwa nemombe nhatu nemari US$500, vakuwasha vakamhanyiswa saka mweya wa Dzanwa woti kurwadziswa nekubatirwa mwanasikana wake hama dzake hadzisikuda azororezve. They tried to engage the police but the in-laws are sticking to their guns,” the relative said.
The stop at the house became the final known meeting between the couple and relatives before the shooting. According to the police account, Dombodzvuku asked Trymore to take the teenager into the house while he and Dzanwa continued their discussion in the vehicle. Trymore was inside when he heard two gunshots.
He reportedly rushed to the parked car and found Dzanwa dead. Dombodzvuku was unconscious in the driver’s seat, having suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Trymore then went to report the incident at ZRP Southlea Park. A night patrol was sent to the property, followed by detectives from the Criminal Investigations Department’s Homicide section.
Police said Dzanwa had been shot once in the head. The firearm, a CZ pistol, was recovered from Dombodzvuku’s lap, and its magazine contained 12 rounds. Dombodzvuku was taken to Sally Mugabe Central Hospital for emergency treatment, where he remained in critical condition under police guard.
Dzanwa was stationed at ZRP Hatfield Traffic. Colleagues and relatives have been left to mourn an officer whose working life involved dealing with motorists and road offences, while her family now faces the difficult task of arranging a burial amid an unresolved dispute with her husband’s relatives.
The allegations involving the teenager are at the centre of the family’s anger. Police investigations indicate that Dombodzvuku allegedly sexually abused Dzanwa’s daughter, who later disclosed the matter to her mother. The disclosure set in motion the journey towards the police station and the attempted family intervention at Trymore’s home.
The couple reportedly went to Trymore for counselling before the shooting. The plan was apparently to discuss the teenager’s disclosure in the presence of a family member rather than proceed immediately to the police station. The situation changed when Dombodzvuku asked for privacy and requested that Trymore leave the couple alone for a few minutes.
Those few minutes ended with the sound of gunfire. Trymore’s account, as reflected in the police report, places the couple inside the parked vehicle when the shots were fired. Investigators recovered the firearm and ammunition and began examining the scene, the movements of the family members and the events that took place before and after the shooting.
The case has been classified as murder and attempted suicide. Dombodzvuku’s survival means that the investigation has continued while he receives medical treatment. Police officers have been guarding him at the hospital as detectives work to establish the full sequence of events inside the vehicle and the circumstances surrounding Dzanwa’s death.
For Dzanwa’s family, however, the immediate concern is not only the investigation. They say the dead officer cannot be buried while the family remains without satisfactory answers and compensation. The offer of 3 cows and US$500 has been rejected, with relatives insisting that the value does not reflect the loss of a daughter, mother and serving police officer, nor the pain caused by the allegations involving the teenager.
In many Zimbabwean families, discussions between in-laws often form part of the arrangements that follow a death, particularly where the death has occurred within a marriage. Such discussions can cover funeral expenses, family obligations and the responsibilities of relatives. In Dzanwa’s case, those negotiations have become a source of tension, with her family demanding a larger settlement before the burial can take place.
The relative said the family had tried to engage the police, but the in-laws remained firm in their position. The family’s stance is also shaped by its belief that Dzanwa died while trying to confront or report the matter involving her daughter. They say the circumstances of the shooting have deepened their grief and made it impossible for them to accept a quick burial without accountability within the family.
Dzanwa’s body therefore remains unburied as the dispute continues. Relatives are calling for the matter to be resolved so that she can be laid to rest with dignity, while the criminal investigation proceeds over the shooting and the injuries suffered by her husband.
The teenager’s welfare is another concern for the families involved. She was reportedly taken into Trymore’s house shortly before the gunshots were heard. Her disclosure to her mother had brought the alleged abuse to light, but the subsequent killing left the teenager facing the loss of her mother and the detention of the man accused of abusing her.
The shooting has also raised concerns about access to firearms by people with previous links to the police. Dombodzvuku was a former Police Special Constabulary member, while Dzanwa was a serving traffic officer. The recovery of a CZ pistol and a magazine containing 12 rounds has placed the weapon at the centre of the investigation as detectives seek to establish how it was obtained and what happened during the confrontation.
Relatives are now waiting for the hospital situation and police investigation to progress. Dombodzvuku’s condition remains significant to the case because he is the surviving adult directly linked to what happened inside the vehicle. In the meantime, Dzanwa’s family continues to demand compensation, explanations and recognition of the circumstances in which she died.
Until those demands are addressed, the funeral remains on hold. A police sergeant who should have been mourned by her family and colleagues after her death remains at the centre of a bitter dispute between two families — one mourning its daughter and demanding justice, and the other facing the consequences of a shooting that began with a confrontation over a teenager’s allegations and ended with one death and one serious injury.