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Walter Nyamukondiwa
Mash West Bureau Chief
For several months leading to the tragic events that saw Kevison Murengwa (33) of Madzimoyo Farm in Hurungwe strangling his 9-year-old son, he said an “angel” had been instructing him to kill his children and commit suicide.
Murengwa has a history of mental breakdowns.
His marriage had been on the rocks for some time, before his wife Abigail Katenda, 29, decided to leave him with his son, taking their three-year-old daughter with her.
The couple separated in last month and Abigail went to stay with her elder sister at Elephant Rest Farm while Murengwa went to stay with his brother.
Murengwa’s utterances about killing his children were reportedly repeated several times after the couple had a dispute.
“We knew that they were having marital problems, which led to the wife leaving him to go and stay with her parents,” said a relative who preferred anonymity. “We heard him tell his wife several times that an ‘angel’ was telling him that he should kill his children before taking his own life as they would struggle with their mother.”
The relative said Murengwa had episodes of mental breakdown, which started as they sought spiritual healing for his brother’s mental condition.
“He (Murengwa) started having mental problems when the family went to traditional healers and apostolic sects to get spiritual healing for his brother,” said the relative.
Tragedy struck on Sunday, April 21 when Murengwa called his son from his mother’s homestead, about 50 metres away.
He allegedly strangled him before rushing to his mother’s homestead, where he motioned her to keep quiet and bolted away.
“It was only a little later that his mother went to his homestead to discover that the child was frothing at the mouth and having his last breath,” narrated the relative.
According to the police, information was picked that Murengwa was heading to Elephant Rest Farm, where his estranged wife, Abigail, was staying with her sister, ostensibly to kill the other child.
Police were told as they attended the scene of the tragedy, and alerted members of the neighbourhood watch committee, who managed to intercept and arrested Murengwa as he approached the homestead where his wife was staying.
People with marital problems should seek counselling whenever they have marital problems and not use children to settle personal scores, advised police.
Information gleaned from relatives and neighbours shows that Murengwa had been a member of the Zion Christian Church since birth, before he started taking alcohol.
“Things started getting worse in terms of his behaviour and that also affected the marriage,” said another relative.
“It was, however, strange that he was now talking about hearing an ‘angel’ telling him to kill his children. It is not clear why they had problems with his wife, which led to them eventually separating but we suspect that his change of behaviour could have contributed to the fallout.”
The boy was buried at Madzimoyo Farm, while Murengwa is still in custody.
Online Reporter