A 45-year old man Owen Matchowa has died in Thyolo, after he was allegedly beaten by the security guards at Naming’omba Tea Estates on suspicion he was transporting stolen tree logs from the estate in his lorry.
Thyolo police spokesperson, Amos Tione said, while the incident happened on Saturday, they are yet to establish the cause of death as they are waiting for postmortem results.
However, brother to the deceased, Mphatso Matchowa said his brother was only hired to ferry the logs when the guards allegedly caught him with the carrying logs suspected to be from the estate.
Matchowa said, before his death, his brother narrated the guards hacked him in the head and hit him with a stone on the stomach, before he was rushed to Thyolo district hospital where he has died.
