The Sunday Mail
MARANGE villagers attending a funeral recently were left weak-kneed when a woman who claimed to be possessed by a spirit started acting like a hyena and accused her aunt of feasting on the deceased’s body.
Rebecca Kwembeya (55) of Kwembeya village, under Chief Marange, caused confusion among mourners as they wondered if she was telling the truth or not.
Proceedings at the funeral came to a halt as people tried to calm her down, while others accused her of being disrespectful and insane. Kwembeya allegedly went on all fours and laughed like a hyena, before claiming her aunt, Susan Dzvatu, had killed Caleb Dzvatu.
However, Dzvatu (65) did not take the witchcraft allegations lightly; she reported the matter to Chief Marange’s court.
Narrating the macabre real-life drama before the chief’s court recently, Dzvatu — who is also Village Head Kwembeya’s wife — said during Caleb’s funeral, Kwembeya acted like a hyena and appeared possessed.
She said Kwembeya’s allegations had negatively affected her as fellow villagers were now shunning her and labelling her a witch.
“I am now a subject for gossip and slander by fellow villagers. Kwembeya made the false allegations against me and disrespected me as the village head’s wife. She damaged our reputation as traditional leaders. People are now shunning us due to her baseless utterances. She also said I will be killing Tennison in the next few months,” said Dzvatu.
It is reported Dzvatu confiscated Rebecca’s hat so that she could produce it as evidence of the slander, before leaving the funeral in a huff as she could not withstand the humiliation.
According to the customs of the Marange people, confiscating an accuser’s item is a way of dealing with accusations of witchcraft.
If someone labels another person a witch or a wizard, the accused person has the right to take any item belonging to the accuser and keep it as evidence that they were slandered.
This is supposed to deter false accusations and protect the reputation of innocent people, according to Chief Marange.
Dzvatu said a day after Caleb’s burial, Kwembeya accused her of feasting on the deceased’s body.
“My family and I went back for Caleb’s burial the next morning. We also attended the after-burial rituals the following day. To my surprise, Kwembeya started humiliating me in front of everyone again, saying I should confess my sins and beg for forgiveness. She also named my supposed fellow witches. She said I had already feasted on the deceased’s body the night it was buried,” charged the angry woman.
Chief Marange summoned Kwembeya to his court on different occasions, but she defied the order.
He said he would send his messenger of court to drag her to the community court.
“In this area, we do not take allegations of witchcraft lightly since we are a prayerful community. If she is found guilty of defaming her aunt, we will make Kwembeya compensate her with two cattle. However, if it is confirmed that Dzvatu is a witch and that she killed and feasted on Caleb’s body, then she will face the consequences,” he said.
According to Chief Marange, Dzvatu would pay a penalty of nine cattle if she is proven guilty of the crime.
He said two of the cattle would go to the chief’s court, and the remaining seven given to the Kwembeya family as compensation.
The matter was adjourned to today to allow Rebecca to be summoned to court again. — Manica Post
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Man commits suicide over incest
A 46-year-old resident of Siambizi area, under Chief Makoma in Binga, Matabeleland North province, was found hanging in his bedroom after he was accused of impregnating his 12-year-old stepdaughter.
Mkhokheli Munengi used a wire to hang himself in the evening.
The now deceased’s stepdaughter is said to have gone to the police station, where she reported that she had been raped by one of the villagers, only identified as Mugande.
Later on, she reportedly went back to the police station and changed the statement, claiming it was her stepfather, Munengi, who had raped her.
When the police visited Munengi’s homestead with the intention of arresting him, they were shocked to find his body hanging from his bedroom.
Makho Mumba (48), a cousin of the deceased, said Munengi visited him in the afternoon of the fateful day and told him he was in deep trouble and wanted to kill himself.
Matabeleland North police spokesperson Inspector Glory Banda confirmed the incident.
Inspector Banda urged the public to quickly report such cases to the police and avoid settling them as a family as that would end up affecting justice for children. — B-Metro
