A 38-year-old woman was found dead with multiple injuries inside her home at Louden A Village in Gweru, while her husband was discovered unconscious on a bed in the same hut after apparently ingesting an unknown poisonous substance.
The woman, Norris Ndlovu, was found at about 5am. Her husband, Richard Sibanda, was taken to Gweru Provincial Hospital for treatment and remained under police guard as investigators waited for him to recover sufficiently to be interviewed.
Midlands provincial police spokesperson Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko said officers at ZRP Gweru Rural received a report that Sibanda had consumed a poisonous substance in what appeared to be an attempt to take his own life.
“Police received a report at ZRP Gweru Rural that Richard Sibanda, an adult male from Louden A Village under Headman Mordecai Dube, had allegedly consumed an unknown poisonous substance in an apparent attempt to take his own life,” he said.
When officers arrived, they found Ndlovu’s body on the floor of the hut and Sibanda unconscious on the bed. Both were taken to Gweru Provincial Hospital. Sibanda was admitted for medical care, while Ndlovu’s body was placed in the hospital mortuary pending a post-mortem examination to establish the cause of death.
Police have not yet set out what happened inside the home before the two were found. Mahoko said officers were waiting for Sibanda’s condition to improve before questioning him as part of the investigation into Ndlovu’s suspected murder. The post-mortem examination is expected to establish the medical cause of death.
Mahoko urged people facing conflict at home to seek peaceful and lawful ways to resolve it. “We urge members of the public to resolve domestic disputes peacefully and through lawful means rather than resorting to violence,” he said.
The circumstances in Louden A Village remain under investigation. The known facts are stark: Ndlovu was found dead with multiple injuries, Sibanda was unconscious in the same room, and police are treating the case as a suspected murder while he receives hospital care.
The Gweru case comes amid a series of fatal incidents involving couples. On 23 September, Nyasha Mhungu, 35, and his wife, Olga Muzhingi, 30, were found dead in a bedroom at their home in Glen View 3, Harare. Police said the deaths followed a marital dispute and that investigations were under way to establish the circumstances. In that case, both partners died. In Gweru, Sibanda survived and is in hospital under police guard, while investigators await the opportunity to hear his account.
Another similar case was reported in Hopley, Harare, in August. Sergeant Portia Dzanwa, 36, was shot dead on 16 August 2026. Police said her husband, Pharaoh Dombodzvuku, 52, shot himself with the same pistol after shooting her. He survived and was taken to Sally Mugabe Central Hospital in critical condition, where he remained under police guard. He was arrested following the incident.
As in the Gweru case, the husband survived an apparent suicide attempt and was left in hospital under police guard after his wife died. The circumstances differed: Dzanwa was shot with a firearm, while Ndlovu was found with multiple injuries and Sibanda was discovered unconscious after allegedly consuming an unknown poisonous substance.
These cases have unfolded as Zimbabwe’s Gender Commission runs a 90-day national campaign against intimate partner violence. The drive began in October and is scheduled to continue through December, culminating in the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The commission’s stated focus includes prevention, identifying warning signs early, discussing mental health, promoting healthy relationships and peaceful conflict resolution, and improving reporting and survivor support.
The campaign follows extensive recorded reports of violence. Police recorded at least 13,838 cases of sexual offences and aggravated domestic violence in 2024. The Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey for 2023–2024 found that 27 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 had experienced physical violence during their lifetime, while 9 per cent had experienced sexual violence. The commission has also highlighted that 7,061 sexual and gender-based violence cases were received by the National Prosecuting Authority in the first quarter of 2026. These figures cover a wider range of violence and are not limited to cases between spouses, but they show the scale of cases reaching official agencies.
Gender Commission chairperson Leslie Ncube said the reported deaths connected to intimate relationships were a matter of national concern. “The commission is deeply concerned by the increasing reports of physical, sexual, emotional and other forms of violence occurring within intimate relationships, including cases that escalate into loss of life,” he said.
The commission has called for intimate partner violence to be addressed through coordinated work across government, communities, civil society, workplaces, faith groups and traditional leadership. Its campaign urges men and boys to reject violence, and asks parents, employers and community members to promote respectful relationships and connect people facing abuse with help.
Ncube said intimate partner violence should not be treated as a private dispute to be ignored by others. “Intimate partner violence cannot be dismissed as a private family matter,” he said. He said the campaign seeks to move beyond responding only after violence occurs and to strengthen prevention and early intervention.
In Gweru, the immediate focus remains on establishing how Ndlovu sustained her injuries and what took place in the hours before she was found. Sibanda remains in hospital, with police guard in place. Investigators are waiting for his medical condition to improve so they can interview him, while the post-mortem examination is pending.
For Ndlovu’s family and the Louden A Village community, the wait for answers continues. Police have asked members of the public to resolve disputes without violence as their investigation proceeds.