The late Midlands State University lecturer and Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) commissioner Martin Muduva’s wife reportedly said in a suicide note that she had taken their marriage vow of “till death do us part” literally.
Lyliosa Chirara (43) allegedly attacked her husband Commissioner Muduva (42) with an axe while he was asleep at their home in Dzivarasekwa Extension, Harare before consuming rat poison.
Muduva, an engineer by training and a commissioner with the ZHRC died at Parirenyatwa Hospital on Wednesday morning after sustaining serious head injuries.
Chirara also later died after allegedly ingesting rat poison.
A handwritten note reportedly left by Chirara and published by a local publication describes what she portrayed as years of marital unhappiness, rejection and betrayal.
The contents of the note have not been independently authenticated.
“As I had vowed to Martin that our union would only be ended by death, this is the death that I meant,” Chirara allegedly wrote.
In the note, Chirara claimed that her relationship with Muduva deteriorated after he obtained his PhD in 2022.
She alleged that he stopped having sex with her and no longer entered their bedroom claiming that he had become ashamed of being married to a woman without a university education.
“From 2022 to 2025 he never entered our bedroom and he never had sex with me,” she allegedly wrote.
She also accused Muduva of secretly marrying another woman identified in the note as Patience Mangwiro.
According to Chirara, she discovered the alleged marriage after seeing a social media post about a roora ceremony involving Muduva and Mangwiro.
“He went to secretly marry the woman, he went with his relatives and I only learnt about it when I saw it on a status she posted about the Roora Day,” she allegedly wrote.
Chirara further claimed that she had attempted to establish an egg-production business by keeping about 500 chickens at the family home but that Muduva objected to the venture and she was eventually forced to sell them.
She also alleged that Muduva had told her that his earnings were his private business and that she had no right to know how much he earned.
The note suggests that Chirara felt her husband’s academic and financial success had changed their relationship.
“I’m crying, I’m suffering, murume avekundisema, kundisvipira mate nhasi nekuti ave nemari, akanganwa kwatakabva,” she allegedly wrote.
The statement roughly translates as an accusation that Muduva had come to despise and look down on her because he now had money and had forgotten where they had come from.
Chirara also appeared to address Mangwiro directly, alleging that she had wanted to destroy her marriage.
“Now, let Patiece Mangwiro be happy because all she wanted was to destroy my marriage with Martin,” she allegedly wrote.
She then addressed her children, saying she had wanted to see them grow up but felt that the stress she was experiencing would eventually have killed her.
“My kids, they don’t know anything, yes, I wanted to see them grow but I would still have died because of stress, sorry, I have failed,” she allegedly wrote.
Chirara also apologised to her relatives and Muduva’s family for the pain caused by the incident.
“To my mothers, I know I have inflicted pain on you where it hurts the most but understand this letter, I have written it with tears streaming down my cheeks,” she allegedly wrote.
She ended the note with an appeal for her children to be cared for.
“Chisarai mugarike, please take care of my children,” she allegedly wrote.
