Man commits suicide after wife resists son-in-law’s eviction

Walter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
A 67-YEAR-OLD man from Gutu’s Chief Makore area allegedly hanged himself after his wife resisted his plans to evict their son-in-law who stayed with them, police confirmed yesterday.

Simon Masunda’s body was discovered on Tuesday hanging from a tree branch with a leather rope around his neck, a day after he went missing from his homestead.

Acting Masvingo police spokesperson, Assistant Inspector Nkululeko Nduna confirmed the incident.

He said members of the public should seek counselling whenever they have disputes rather than resorting to suicide or violence.

“We always urge people to seek counselling than take their own lives. They should make use of elders or family members in the event that they’re unable to resolve their disputes,” said Asst Insp Nduna.

He said a post-mortem was waived as no foul play was suspected.

A source said on Monday afternoon while at their homestead, Simon and his wife, Levenia Masunda, 59, allegedly had a discussion over the lengthy stay of their son-in-law, John Kusinga, 36, at their homestead.

Simon suggested that Kusinga should leave their home and find alternative accommodation elsewhere, the source said.

A misunderstanding ensued over the matter with Levenia resisting the decision to kick-out their son-in-law.

The source said Levenia argued that there was no reason for Kusinga to leave the homestead since they were living in harmony.

“After tempers had cooled down at around 4PM, Levenia left for her groundnuts field but Simon remained behind. An hour later, she returned only to find her husband not at home,” said the source.

The source said Levenia waited for Simon to return and after five hours without him returning, she panicked and went to inform his brother, Michael, 77.

She told her brother-in-law that her husband had been missing since afternoon.

“A search party was dispatched but Simon wasn’t found. On the following day at around 6PM, Kusinga heard one of Simon’s brothers, Zoro Masunda, shouting from a nearby bush that he had found Simon. When other villagers went to him, they discovered Simon hanging from a tree branch. He had a rope round his neck,” said another source.

The matter was reported to Gutu police who attended the scene. Police also found a suicide note in his pocket which indicated that he had killed himself over “Kusinga’s disobedience”.