A man in Shurugwi, Zimbabwe is battling for his life after his wife allegedly hired hitmen including her boyfriend to kill him so she could marry the new lover.

28-year-old Dereck Mudzengi (28) was admitted to Shurugwi District Hospital after he sustained multiple injuries, iHarare reports.

He was saved by passers-by who heard his screams while he was being attacked by the alleged hitmen with machetes and iron bars.

The police told local publication The Herald, that the suspected hitmen abducted Mudzengi from his home in Sebanga suburb in Shurugwi on Monday night, before taking him to the nearby bush where they intended to kill him.

Midlands police spokesperson Inspector Joel Goko told the publication that police had already arrested the wife, Priscilla Chiyavayava, and were now looking for her boyfriend and two other men.

Inspector Goko said they arrested the wife after going through her text messages. He said: “I can confirm the arrest of a 20-year-old woman, Priscilla Chiyavayava, who allegedly connived with some three men, among them her alleged boyfriend, to attack her husband. I am, however, still to get full details from the responsible station.”

The wife then allegedly sneaked out of their home and sent a text message to alert her boyfriend, Justin Mpfeka, that her husband was now at home. A source close to the investigation said: “It seems like this was a plan she had already hatched with her boyfriend because she even indicated in one of her text messages to the boyfriend that the husband had $150 on him and they should steal it before killing him.”

Chivayavaya was arrested after Mudzengi indicated that he suspected one of his assailants to be his wife’s long-time boyfriend.

Police have since launched a manhunt for Mpfeka and two of his friends only identified as Nyasha and Lloyd.