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Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
A Mutare man is seeking justice for his daughter’s death after his son-in-law, an apostolic sect devotee, denied her access to medical care citing religious beliefs, resulting in her death.
The grieving father, Phillip Gudza, alleged that his ailing daughter, Fatima Gudza (18), was dumped at his Hobhouse house by her husband, Ethan Mazino, a few days before her demise.
Gudza said the Mazino family are devout members of the Johanne Mahindekinde Sect in Chimanimani and denied his daughter medical attention when she fell sick.
The man recently brought the matter before Chief Chikukwa’s court where he is seeking compensation for his daughter and her two children’s deaths.
Speaking in an interview last week, the elderly man said he is yet to get justice for his daughter and two grandchildren’s deaths.
“As you can see, I am now at an advanced age and my days on this earth are numbered. I want justice for my daughter and grandchildren’s deaths.
“My child was only a teenager and still in school when she eloped to Ethan Mazino. We were told that his parents disliked her because she was not a member of their sect, but she soldiered on as their daughter-in-law.
“She was blessed with her first baby, but the child died during her second pregnancy. We were never informed of the first child’s death. After delivering her second child, my daughter fell ill, but the Mazinos concealed everything.
“Instead of taking our daughter and grandchild to hospital, they forcibly took them to a church shrine. Her condition deteriorated and she could no longer walk or talk.
“They later brought my daughter and grandchild to our Hobhouse house. Irate residents demanded that she be taken to hospital where she died shortly afterwards,” said Gudza.
He said a post-mortem stated that his daughter succumbed to a fever attack as she had stayed at the shrine for days in the open cold weather.
Fatima’s second child later died and the Gudzas were never informed.
Gudza said it is heart wrenching that there was no justice for his daughter and grandchildren’s deaths as his in-laws are playing a cat and mouse game with this family.
“I suspect that my child caught that fever at the shrine where they took her, even though she was demanding to be taken to hospital. When we buried her, she had burns all over her face as well as inside her mouth. Her in-laws say the burns are from the porridge she was eating.
“The mother-in-law forcibly took away my daughter’s newly born child, saying she did not want her son’s child to be breastfed by a ‘impure’ mother who was receiving medication against their church doctrine.
“After my daughter’s death, they came with her corpse and instructed us to bury her, but we refused. They took the body to Chimanimani for burial.
“The late Chief Chikukwa was dealing with the matter. However, he died before finalising it. I have since taken up the issue with the current Chief Chikukwa,” said Gudza.
As he related his story, his wife and daughter’s namesake, Gogo Fatima Gudza sobbed, saying Fatima’s sad demise is eating them up.
“My daughter and her children’s spirits are not resting in peace. They want justice. We did not want her to be buried before our in-laws compensated us as she had wounds all over her body.
“The late Chief Chikukwa urged us to allow her burial and deal with the compensation issue afterwards. We abided by the chief’s directive, but we never received the compensation after burial,” said Gogo Gudza.
“We only got to know that Fatima’s second child had also died when we went there last week to follow up on the matter with the new Chief Chikukwa.
“We asked why the Mazino family had not informed us of the child’s death but they did not give us any reasonable explanation. We hope that Chief Chikukwa will help bring justice for Fatima and her children so that they rest in peace,” she said.
The Gudzas say they have not seen their son-in-law, Mazino, since Fatima’s funeral in 2015.
The Mazino family was in default when the matter was heard by Chief Chikukwa.
The chief promised to summon them and inform the Gudza family of the next court date.
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