adminRay Bande Senior Reporter
THE father of the 12-year-old boy in Mabvengwa Village in Marange area who is being pelted by stones and is occasionally being strangled by unseen assailants has denied ever trying to engage in voodoo practices to succeed in life. In a heart-rending story published in this newspaper last week, the 12-year-old boy in Mabvengwa Village in Marange area is being pelted by stones and is occasionally being strangled by unseen assailants.
The innocent boy is going through hell on earth as he now endures the excruciating pain as well as bewilderment of stones hitting him hard without any assailant in sight.
By last week, the Grade 5 pupil and her grandmother had sought refuge at an apostolic sect shrine about 40km away from their home in Mabvengwa.
However, the South African-based father, who commented on the online version of the story, confirmed that ill omens have been part of their life in the family and has pleaded for assistance from people who might have gone through similar experiences.
As the family battles to come to terms with this ghoulish tale, accusations and counter-accusations have now been the order of the day, with some saying the calamity befell the child after he scolded an elderly lady in the community and the lady told him ‘uchazviona’… ‘You shall see.’
Some family members believe the remaining eldest grandfather knows the source of this misfortune and should own up.
Others are of the opinion that the boy’s own father, who is understood to be well-read and is based in East London, South Africa, has a case to answer.
“To begin with, I am the father of this boy. It is only God who will reveal the truth and it is really sad that people try to divert their evil doings to me. This issue of ill omens has been in the family for a long time. The community knows that. These things trouble us, our father passed on due to these things. I don’t use any muti in my life.
“I am a qualified Economist with a Masters and I work for a living. Our family has been receiving blessings with my younger brother managing to attain an honours in Accounting degree. My other siblings are all managing well, two policemen and a teacher. This does not go well with people who are jealous and they are trying to destabilise our progress. I can say a lot, but, what we are looking for is the survival of my son. I want to plead to people who can assist with ideas. If this persists what do we do?” reads the father’s comment to the story.
His comments are in stark contrast to the elderly Muchaonywerwa who denied any ill-omens in the family.
When he was asked whether there have not been any other calamities in the family, the 66-year-old Sekuru Muchaonyerwa last week said all had been well despite himself having lost two wives.
“Well, we all know that people die and I have even lost two wives, but that is only natural. We have never had ill-omens in our family,” he added.
Although the Weekender could hardly confirm whether the boy is still being pelted by unseen assailants this week, things were said to have improved by last week upon their arrival at the apostolic sect shrine.
However, there were genuine fears that the worst could still happen upon their return home.
Owing to incessant droughts and hunger spawned by acute low rainfall patterns in the Marange area, widely referred to as Bocha, cases of villagers sourcing wealth through voodoo practices are rampant.
Sadly, most of them end up resulting in mysterious incidents and inexplicable deaths in families.
Online Reporter