HARARE - A Bindura businesswoman died on Tuesday night moments after a suspected sexual encounter with a top High Court judge, the Daily News can reveal.
The death of 55-year-old Gladys Farai Mangwiro, a businesswoman of note in the small town, has left the community shell-shocked and searching for answers about what actually transpired.
The High Court judge (name withheld) was at the home of the woman he has been having an affair with for “quite a span”.
The judge rushed to the police when the woman became unresponsive after the two engaged in a sex act, according to police sources in Bindura where the judge allegedly made the report.
Family members also confirmed that the judge and the woman were together in the bedroom when tragedy struck.
The businesswoman was later pronounced dead at a Bindura hospital.
When the Daily News crew yesterday visited Mayfair Lodge, which is owned by the now deceased, workers said the top judge had reported the death to the police. Police spokesperson Charity Charamba said she was in the dark about the death.
At Magwiro’s residence, which is in the middle of the small town, a sombre mood engulfed the atmosphere.
About five minutes’ drive from the lodge at the deceased’s residence, scores of mourners were attending the funeral wake of the entrepreneur whom they knew as convivial and healthy.
Her first born daughter, Cheryl-Jane Kujenga, confirmed her mother had been in the company of a “male friend” moments before she met her death.
“She developed sudden respiratory complications on Tuesday the 14th just before midnight. Attempts to resuscitate her were fruitless,” she said.
“She had been in the company of a male friend who had visited but it is not necessary to reveal the name.”
For the most part, the funeral was modest. There was no wailing, only people dejectedly sitting under a tree shed digesting the “untimely death” of their loved mother, sister or neighbour.
A prominent resident of Bindura, Mangwiro sat on the boards of the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe and the National Aids Council.
She was one of the most eminent women in Bindura having won the Mashonaland Central businesswoman of the year in 2010. She was also a regular contributor to the Mayor’s Cheer Fund.
It is her rags to riches story that captured the imagination of Bindura residents who yesterday told the Daily News that it was hard to come to terms with her death.
“She was a mother to us and treated us well as her employees. Sometimes she could even assist us outside work-related matters,” said one of the workers.
But the manner Mangwiro met her death has triggered wild speculation in the usually quiet town.
Theories flew around that the woman suffered from post-coitus cardiac arrest.
A senior government official in Bindura told the Daily News yesterday that there are attempts to
underplay the death of Mangwiro but there were lingering questions about her gothic, and admittedly disturbing, end.
“The general version is that she died from asthma but there is a persistent view that she died from cardiac arrest triggered by sexual intercourse,” said the official.
A medical doctor who spoke to the Daily News on condition of anonymity said it was rare for person to die from post-sex cardiac arrest.
“We are strong species and it is rare for a person to die after sex unless if she had a medical condition.
This is the case best solved by conducting a post mortem,” the doctor told the Daily News.
According to the daughters, their mother was diagnosed with asthma a month ago and was given an inhaler that was found on her bedside after she died.
Mangwiro leaves behind three children and one grandson.
The Mangwiro family said they were still awaiting a post mortem report before her burial on Saturday at Pote Safaris, about 20km along the Bindura-Harare road.