Harare — A Banket man and his friend allegedly teamed up and axed a woman to death in a suspected ritual killing.

The incident happened at Barryhille Farm in Banket on September 9 when Naison Katandika and Joseph Maguva allegedly followed Dorica Chiunye, their neighbour, on her way to fetch firewood and grabbed her in the middle of the forest and beheaded her. They appeared before Chinhoyi magistrate Mr Ngoni Nduna, who remanded them in custody on murder charges. Unbeknown to them, Bernous Chakanyika witnessed the gruesome murder and reported the matter to the police. Investigations by the police led to the recovery of the woman's remains.

It was established from a post-mortem that she was struck with a sharp object. Katandika and Maguva were remanded in custody to October 5 to allow the State to complete investigations.