A woman in the small town of Chivhu killed her four children by slicing their throats with a knife before setting her home on fire after rowing with her husband, police said.

Crazed Emelda Marazani, 29, went on a murderous rampage at around midday on Wednesday following what police described as a “marital dispute” with her husband, Lameck Brande.

Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said: “When the husband left for work in the morning, the suspect locked the children aged nine, five, three and one in the house. She took a rope and tied the two elder children before slitting open their throats with a knife. The suspect went on to kill the other two children with the knife before setting the house on fire.”

Chivhu Woman ‘Beheads’ Her 4 Children, Sets Fire To Her Home: Police

Nyathi said Marazani then drank poison which she had earlier acquired before walking out of house number 4171 in Highview suburb.

She told neighbours who had observed smoke coming out of her house that “all was in order,” Nyathi said.

She handed herself over at the local police station.

Chivhu is a town in Mashonaland East province, some 145km from Harare on the highway south to Masvingo.