Online Reporter
Fungai Lupande-Mashonaland Central Bureau
FOR nearly a year, the disappearance of Charity Chidhawu Karembera and her four-year-old son in Guruve haunted her family, draining their resources, tearing them apart and leaving them suspended between hope and despair.
They found closure when police exhumed their remains from shallow graves linked to suspected serial killer Anymore Zvitsva.
Charity was last seen at around 10am on March 24 last year at her homestead in Sahondo area, Guruve.
She had prepared food for her husband, who was working in a nearby garden, and told her mother-in-law that she was going to call him.
She never returned.
Her husband later came back home, ate the food she had prepared and assumed she was somewhere nearby.
Unbeknown to him, Charity had indeed taken the path towards the garden, accompanied by her four-year-old son, Tendai Sahondo, but she never made it.
Just a short distance from the homestead, her life was violently cut short.
For months, the family searched everywhere.
Police reports were filed at Belvekia Police Station the following day and villagers combed nearby fields, bushland and homesteads.
When they could not locate the mother and child, desperation set in.
“We did not rest,” recalled Charity’s father, Mr Peter Chidhawu.
“We tried everything humanly possible.”
The family consulted prophets, spirit mediums and traditional healers, spending thousands of dollars on promises that Charity would return alive.
Some claimed she would come back in days.
Others demanded money for rituals, prayers and ceremonies.
“We paid money, bought fuel, airtime, food and even religious items,” Mr Chidhawu said.
“Each time we were given hope and each time we were disappointed.”
As weeks turned into months, suspicion crept in.
Rumours spread that Charity had run away due to marital problems.
Others claimed she had been seen in distant areas, looking unwell and asking for food.
The family chased every lead, travelling as far as Mashonaland West, but found nothing.
Then the accusations turned inward.
“Family members began accusing each other of witchcraft and rituals,” Mr Chidhawu said.
“At one point, I was accused of being responsible for my own daughter’s disappearance for ritual purposes.”
The suspicion intensified when Mr Chidhawu bought a lorry around the same time.
The vehicle, he explained, was purchased using his pension after retiring from the civil service.
“I was grieving, yet I became the suspect,” he said.
The emotional toll was immense.
A farewell party planned for his retirement was cancelled as the family clung to the hope that Charity would return.
That hope finally ended on January 8 this year.
During investigations into a series of murders in Guruve police arrested suspected serial killer Anymore Zvitsva following a long-drawn manhunt.
Detectives had been tracking a pattern of disappearances and killings reported across the province.
After his arrest, Zvitsva allegedly confessed to killing multiple victims and led police to the location where the bodies had been dumped.
During indications, he pointed out two shallow graves where Charity and her son were buried.
Until then, the family had never suspected that Charity’s disappearance was linked to the killings.
“It was my first time to see Anymore Zvitsva,” Mr Chidhawu said.
“I saw him point out where my daughter and grandchild were buried. I had mixed emotions, deep pain, but also relief.”
Relief, he said, that the truth had finally come out.
“For a year, people suspected me. That day, I was finally exonerated,” he said.
“The truth spoke for itself.”
Mr Chidhawu praised the police for providing counselling before the exhumations, describing the process as emotionally overwhelming.
“I accepted the reality, even though it was painful,” he said.
He said Zvitsva also revealed that other victims were dumped in rivers, dams and different locations around Mashonaland Central, including Rafingora.
“All these people deserve proper burial,” Mr Chidhawu said.
“Their families deserve closure.”
He has since called for the case to be declared a national disaster, noting that at least 23 victims have so far been linked to the murders, with the possibility of more.
“This is a catastrophe,” he said.
“All affected families need counselling, support and dignity in laying their loved ones to rest.”
For the Chidhawu family, closure has finally come but the scars of a year spent searching, hoping and being judged remain deeply etched.
“We lost a daughter and a child,” Mr Chidhawu said.
“But at least now, the truth is known.”
Mr Chidhawu revealed that Charity’s remains, which have missing body parts, are with a pathologist pending DNA testing.
“As a family, we agreed that we will not bury Charity’s remains with missing body parts. We want to know where the skull and breast were taken,” he said.
“Zvitsva said he cooked the head with the intention of consuming human flesh but later threw the head away. We want to see all the remains.”
Police say Zvitsva is suspected of being behind a string of murders and disappearances reported across Mashonaland Central over several months.
The victims, drawn from different communities, were reported missing under similar circumstances, prompting detectives to open a coordinated investigation.
Following his arrest earlier this month, Zvitsva allegedly confessed and led police to several crime scenes and dumping sites.
At least 23 victims have so far been linked to the case, making it one of the most disturbing crime sprees in the province’s history.
Investigations are ongoing as police continue searching for more victims and gather evidence for prosecution.
