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Walter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
THE father to the Masvingo woman who committed suicide early this week, allegedly after persistent accusations of infidelity by her husband, has said he saw the tragedy coming.Speaking to Chronicle yesterday the deceased’s father, Gift Tichana, 52, of Hillside, Masvingo, said his daughter’s marriage to Tinashe Mawine was a living hell characterised by emotional and physical abuse.
He also said prior to the day of the tragedy, her daughter Fadzai Tichana had fled to Beitbridge with the intention of going to South Africa because of her husband’s suspected abusive behaviour which at one time saw him physically assaulting her over infidelity claims.
Tichana alleged that at another stage she suffered a miscarriage and passed out after another assault.
Tichana alleged that Mawine often assaulted his daughter for no apparent reason and sometimes he presided over their disputes.
“My daughter once had a miscarriage after she had been assaulted by the husband. I made him pay one beast because he buried the foetus without telling us that Fadzai had miscarried. I had however, accepted their way of living and asked my daughter not to leave the marriage. She once threatened to leave Mawine citing abuse but I advised her to soldier on little did I know that she would end her life by throwing herself into the water,” he said.
He added: “The day before she died Fadzai came and left her young sister at home in Hillside before disappearing. We looked for her all over including the nearby Hillside Mountain thinking that she could have hanged herself. After what seemed to be an eternity, I received a call-back message on my phone and I phoned her back. She told me that she had gone to Beitbridge with the intention of going for good but I dissuaded her from proceeding and she took heed of my advice.”
On her way back from Beitbridge she had no bus fare, and her father had to go and wait for her in Masvingo town to pay those who had offered her transport.
“We went and met her at the station. After paying the kombi fare we came back home before we talked over the issue. We discussed their problem before we retired to bed. At around 3AM, she complained of diarrhoea and asked for toilet paper before she disappeared. I am sure the couple had a heated dispute in their room because I eavesdropped them talking on top of their voices. We looked everywhere but she was nowhere to be found until we received a phone call from police at Chikato Station to the effect that Fadzai had been seen by people going to industrial site, throwing herself into the river,” said a tearful Tichana.
The father said the day Fadzai’s body was discovered, they went to the scene at around 8AM after being called by the police. Divers from sub-aqua unit had refused to get into the river saying the water was too dirty, he claimed.
The police could not be reached immediately to respond to the claim.
However, Tichana said family members and some residents volunteered to search the missing daughter‘s body and they found it stuck in mud after two hours.
“My daughter’s body was submerged in the mud just below water surface and we had to tie one resident who daringly volunteered to get into the river. The man dived into the river while we held him back using a rope tied on his waist,” he said.
“My daughter’s naked body was finally retrieved and had some bruises. I think she was injured when she dived headlong into the water because the injuries were on her head. Her stomach had bulged, because she had gulped water,” he said.
Fadzai left behind two children aged seven years and three.
She will be buried at her rural home in Chief Zimuto’s area in Masvingo on a date yet to be announced, he said.
Online Reporter