Online Reporter
Patrick Chitumba
A HORROR show erupted at a village cemetery in Lower Gweru as a grief-stricken man threw a funeral into chaos, vowing to be buried alive with his murdered uncle.
B-Metro went on the ground to establish the story behind a viral video of total chaos at the funeral that has been doing rounds on social media since 29 July when the incident occurred.
In the dusty heat of Njobela Village, mourners had gathered to lay 32-year-old Milton Mpala to rest. Mpala had tragically lost his life at Silon plots while trying to stop a fight between brothers. His body lay in a casket, poised above the grave, while tearful relatives prepared for the final goodbye.
But just as the coffin was about to be lowered, all hell broke loose.
Milton’s nephew, Eddie, overcome with rage and raw emotion, stormed forward and halted the burial with a chilling scream:
“I want to die with my uncle!”
Gasps rippled through the mourners. Some tried to calm him down, but Eddie was inconsolable. He climbed into the grave, shaking with fury, before leaping out and grabbing a shovel. A dramedy of horrors unfolded.
With bloodshot eyes and trembling hands, Eddie began chasing mourners with the shovel, sending villagers scattering in all directions.
Even Headman Sibanda could be heard shouting for everyone to run for their lives.
A crew from First Helpers Funeral Services did not wait to be told twice. They sped off from the volatile scene.
Left behind was Milton’s unburied body, an abandoned gravesite, and a stunned silence that gripped the village like a curse.
Chief Chisadza Bunina later confirmed the bizarre incident, saying the burial eventually proceeded with only a handful of brave relatives and neighbours after Eddie calmed down and disappeared from the scene.
“Few neighbours and relatives went back to bury the deceased after the earlier pandemonium caused by Eddie,” said Councillor Njobela Sobhuku.
According to Clr Sobhuku, Milton had tried to break up a fight between two feuding brothers at Silon plots. A move that cost him his life.
The alleged attackers are believed to be from a neighbouring family that later engaged the Mpala family in traditional compensation talks.
Vungu MP Cde Brown Ndlovu revealed that Milton’s family elders had demanded 10 beasts from the suspects’ family as compensation. Four of those beasts had already been paid.
But the youth in the family, especially Eddie, wanted blood.
“They didn’t want beasts. They wanted justice,” said Cde Ndlovu.
“Eddie felt burying Milton before his killers were arrested was a betrayal. That’s when he snapped and started yelling that he’d rather die with his uncle than see the killers walk free.”
The young man then said he was going to kill the people and also said he would rather be buried with his uncle than to see the agreement being sealed.
As the chaos at the cemetery unfolded, mourners fled in all directions, trampling over each other in a desperate bid to escape Eddie’s rage. Children wailed, elders stumbled, and some fell into nearby bushes as the maniacal chase continued.
Meanwhile, Milton’s coffin lay beside the open grave, ignored in the chaos. The priest and pallbearers took cover behind nearby tombstones. Some villagers hid behind trees while others huddled together, shocked by the disturbing turn of events.
The violent scene left many traumatised, and elders in the community later gathered to discuss the disturbing disruption. Some claimed Eddie had been possessed by ancestral spirits. Others believed he had simply been driven to the edge by the injustice of the situation.
As of yesterday, police at Mboweni Station were said to be handling the case, though no arrests had been made yet.
Midlands police spokesperson Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko said he was yet to receive a report on the incident.
