Mpopoma murder: relatives demand 45 cattle, $3000

in front of her seven-year-old son by her husband on Monday are demanding 45 head of cattle and $3 000 before she can be buried.

The relatives said they were also extremely angry because the little finger from one of the woman’s hands was missing.

The 34-year-old woman, Mrs Miriam Takavingofa Nyoni, was allegedly brutally killed by her husband, Goodman Nyoni (33), who split her skull with a machete, chopped off her hands and tried to commit suicide by cutting his wrists with the machete.He allegedly also tried to hang himself.
In an interview yesterday, the Takavingofa family spokesperson, Mr Simplicious Chikoko, said his family wanted the 45 head of cattle and $3 000 or at least half of that before they could start negotiating with the Nyoni family about the burial of their daughter.
He could not be drawn into revealing whether Nyoni had paid lobola in full.
“We first have to correct that Mr Takawira is not our family’s spokesperson. We all know that humans are capable of killing each other but our daughter’s murder was brutal. We are bitter about the way she was murdered and as a family, we are not going to just bury her and pretend that everything is fine.

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“When all the pieces were gathered and taken for a post-mortem, a finger was missing. This is one of the issues that angers us,” said Mr Chikoko.
He said they had failed to reach an agreement with the Nyoni family and they were returning to their rural homes in Masvingo and would resume negotiations whenever the Nyonis decided to be “organised”.
“We need 45 head of cattle and at least $3 000 from the Nyoni family and until they meet that demand or half of it there will be no burial. This does not mean that we are dumping our daughter. No, we love her and we will bury her later, no matter how long it will take,” said Mr Chikoko.
“We have been trying to negotiate with the Nyonis since this incident happened, but they seem to be unco-operative.

“We are a delegation as you can see, but we have only seen three people who are speaking for the Nyoni family and we wonder where the others are.”
He said the family had fallen behind on their farming activities as they spent the better part of this week in Bulawayo.
“We have failed to take advantage of the rains that continued to pour in the rural areas.
“Some of us asked for off-days at work and it has been four days since we came here trying to negotiate with this family. They are slowing down the whole process because they are unco-operative. We are now going back to our homes and we will be resolving this issue from there. We also need to consult other family members,” said Mr Chikoko.
“We have wasted four days and when these guys decide to co-operate and meet our needs, they will come to us.”
He also said the family was still consulting on when they were going to clean off Miriam’s blood, which is still on the floor, door and walls of the lounge where she was killed.
When Chronicle caught up with the members of the Takavingofa family yesterday afternoon, they said they had already left Bulawayo.
Contacted for comment, some members of the Nyoni family said they were not in a position to comment.
Nyoni is yet to appear in court.
He is still admitted to Mpilo Central Hospital where he is recovering from the self-inflicted injuries on his wrists.
Mrs Nyoni (34) had on 1 March this year issued summons against Ms Sikhulile Ngwenya, Nyoni’s lover, of 2826 Nketa 7, through the Bulawayo Civil Court.
In the particulars of her claim, the late Mrs Nyoni stated that since the beginning of 2009, Ms Ngwenya had illicitly associated and engaged with her husband in an adulterous sexual relationship well knowing Nyoni’s status as a married man.
She further stated that sometime in January this year, she approached Ms Ngwenya’s family in an effort to stop the illicit sexual relationship, but Ms Ngwenya did not stop.
It was the late Mrs Nyoni’s contention that she had been seriously hurt and her dignity impaired by the flagrant adultery and lack of remorse exhibited by Ms Ngwenya and that her actions were threatening to tear her family apart.