A rent dispute in Chitungwiza ended in the death of 50-year-old landlord Maxwell Mhangarai after he was allegedly struck on the head with a metal chain by his 30-year-old tenant, Beauty Mbeve.
The confrontation took place at about 11pm on 1 October at House No. 5307, Unit E, in Seke, Chitungwiza. Mhangarai had approached Mbeve, a lodger at the property, to ask her for rent money. The argument that followed became violent, prosecutors allege.
Mbeve is accused of hitting Mhangarai twice on the head with the chain. He suffered serious head injuries and later died. The death led prosecutors to change the initial assault charge to murder, bringing the case under Section 47 of Zimbabwe’s Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
The case is proceeding under Harare court references CRB 2403/26 and PPS 5536/26. Mbeve remains in custody as proceedings move forward.
News of the upgraded charge emerged on 15 October, two weeks after the 1 October confrontation. By then, Mhangarai had died from his injuries and Mbeve remained in custody. The account gave the two case numbers used in the proceedings, CRB 2403/26 and PPS 5536/26.
The incident happened at night, at a specific home in Unit E, where Mhangarai and Mbeve were connected as landlord and tenant. The details released so far place the dispute over rent at the centre of the confrontation. The amount sought and how long the rent had been outstanding have not been specified in the information available about the case.
The account of the attack describes two blows to the head with a metal chain. Mhangarai did not die at the scene, but the injuries proved fatal. The reported sequence is now central to the murder case: a request for rent, a confrontation inside the property, the alleged blows, and Mhangarai’s death after he had initially survived the assault.
The upgraded charge followed his death. The state had first brought an assault case while Mhangarai was alive. After he succumbed to his injuries, prosecutors amended the charge to murder. The legal file is identified by two references, CRB 2403/26 and PPS 5536/26, as the matter continues through the courts.
The case has drawn attention to another fatal dispute involving rental money in Chitungwiza last year, although the circumstances were different. In April 2025, 38-year-old Tendai Nenguwo died after an alleged assault in Zengeza. The account of that case said Nenguwo had collected US$560 from tenants at a house belonging to the parents of landlord Crispen Marara, on Hanga Street in Zengeza 1, and used the money himself.
Marara was alleged to have brought in four men, who assaulted Nenguwo with fists and a broomstick. Nenguwo was taken to Chitungwiza Central Hospital, where he died. That case involved a landlord accused of arranging an attack on a tenant after a dispute about rental money. In Mhangarai’s case, it is a tenant who is accused of a fatal attack on a landlord after a request for rent.
A separate case in Kwekwe also involved a fatal confrontation between a landlord and tenant. The High Court in Bulawayo found Victor Moyo guilty of killing his landlord, Prayer Banda, at a Mbizo residence in the early hours of 5 July 2021. Banda had entered Moyo’s room and demanded that he leave the premises immediately. Witnesses told the court that Banda threatened to remove him by force if he refused. A scuffle followed, and Moyo stabbed Banda once in the chest. Moyo was convicted of murder in aggravating circumstances and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The case ended with a conviction after a trial, unlike the still-pending proceedings in Chitungwiza.
During that trial, Moyo said he had acted in confusion and fear after mistaking the person entering his room for an intruder. The court rejected his account and found him guilty. The Kwekwe case concerned an eviction demand and a fatal stabbing, while the Chitungwiza case concerns an argument after a landlord asked about rent and an alleged chain attack. The two court matters have different accused people, evidence and outcomes.
In the Chitungwiza case, the account filed so far places Mhangarai’s approach to his tenant shortly before the attack. He was asking about rent. The exchange escalated into an argument, prosecutors allege, and the chain was used to strike him twice on the head. Mhangarai initially survived the assault, but later died from his injuries. The charge against Mbeve was then upgraded from assault to murder, and she remains in custody as the case proceeds under the two listed references.
The death has left a rent dispute with a grave outcome and a murder case now before the courts. Mhangarai was 50. Mbeve is 30. The incident was reported at a home in Unit E, Seke, late on the night of 1 October. The case references identify the proceedings as CRB 2403/26 and PPS 5536/26.