Times Of Swaziland: 4 NEW YEAR MURDERS: SOLDIER SHOOTS MAN 4 NEW YEAR MURDERS: SOLDIER SHOOTS MAN ================================================================================ Stanley Khumalo and Melisa Msweli on 02/01/2024 09:23:00 MANZINI – Only one person was recorded by the police to have been killed on New Year’s Eve. This is an 85 per cent decline in the number of deaths when compared to December 31, 2022, where seven deaths were recorded and they comprised of three road fatalities, two murders and two suicides. However, this year one death was recorded on New Year’s Eve, which occurred at Mkhuzweni in northern Hhohho. The decline in deaths, as recorded by the police, is accompanied by a 100 per cent decline in road fatalities over the long weekend. In total, the police, through press statements, reported that five people died over the new year weekend. According to the police, four of the people were murdered over the long weekend, while a minor drowned. The deaths, when compared to the last weekend of 2022, where 11 people died, reflecting a 54 per cent decline. According to police reports issued by the Chief Police Information and Communications Officer, Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati, yesterday, a 22-year-old man of Mhlangatane was murdered. The deceased was said to have been stabbed with a sharp object and was certified dead upon arrival at Mkhuzweni Health Centre. At 2am on Friday, a 53-year-old man of Makhosini in the Shiselweni Region was shot once in the stomach with a pistol while in his neighbourhood. This publication has gathered from sources that the deceased was allegedly shot by a soldier based at Nkoyoyo Army Barracks. They claimed that the soldier was visiting his girlfriend in the early hours when he found the deceased in his girlfriend’s house. According to the sources, the deceased and the soldier engaged in an argument before the suspect drew a gun and shot him in the stomach. Subsequent to the shooting, it was said efforts were made to rush him to the nearest health facility; however, he succumbed to the injury. On Saturday, at about 7:10am, Senior Superintendent Vilakati reported that a 40-year-old man of Mdzimba, at Manzamnyama, was found lying on the ground with a gashing wound on the head while at Mangwaneni. Vilakati said the man was rushed to Mbabane Government Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. As such, Vilakati said an investigation was ongoing. Also, on Saturday afternoon, at around 4pm, a woman aged 22 years was stabbed seven times all over the body with a sharp object by her boyfriend. According to sources, the pair had broken up and the woman moved on to date another man within the same neighbourhood. On the same day, Vilakati reported, that at 2:30pm, a boy of Hhotela in the Shiselweni Region, who was aged eight years, was discovered to have drowned while swimming in a community dam.