Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
A MARRIAGE that once held hope has now crumbled under the weight of religious differences and mistrust after a Mutasa woman insisted on consulting white garment prophets against her husband’s will.
The decision has seen their case ending up before Chief Mutasa’s community court.
The woman, Talent Zinyika, who approached the court, said her problems began in 2023 when a white garment prophet allegedly warned her that evil spirits were following her, and that her unborn child was in danger.
“In 2023 while I was pregnant I escorted my friend to a white garment prophet. When we got there, I remained outside. The prophet said I had to receive help as evil spirits were following me and that my child would die. My husband dismissed the claims,” she said.
Zinyika said her husband, Noah Tapfira, accused her of having an affair with the prophet after that encounter.
“When I got home, my husband got mad, and accused me of dating the prophet. Later, when I went into labour, other women linked me with another white garment prophet.
After the baby was born, he got sick, and my relatives sought help from the prophets. They refused to assist us. After seven days, our child died,” she recounted.
The tragedy, she said, deepened her belief that spiritual intervention was necessary, especially after she began having disturbing dreams.
“I would dream of his previous wife choking me. Later, my husband discovered coarse salt I had placed in the house and got furious, saying I wanted to kill him. Now he wants to divorce me, but I have refused to accept the divorce token because my parents were not present,” she said tearfully.
Despite the hostility, Zinyika told the court that she still loved her husband and wanted to fix their marriage through the spiritual route that had caused their problems.
“There are people telling him that I will end up poisoning him with love charms and prayers, but I was only looking for solutions to heal our child. I still love my husband, and I still believe that the prophets can help us,” she said.
However, Tapfira, said he was tired of living under “a cloud of suspicion and strange rituals.”
“Ever since we met, I told her that I do not visit white garment prophets. But she has been approaching them behind my back. One morning, I woke up to find that she had sprinkled salt all over the bed while I was asleep,” said Tapfira.
He said the breaking point was when he discovered that his wife was secretly communicating with prophets, deleting messages from her phone despite his instruction not to.
“I had linked her WhatsApp to my laptop. I saw messages from these so-called prophets, and she deleted them thinking I would not know. The messages suggested that they were having affairs.
“When I confronted her, she told one of them that they would now talk via TikTok since I was monitoring her WhatsApp. I heard it because she did not know that I could hear her while she was on the phone the next day. That was the final straw,” Tapfira told the court.
He said his mistrust was worsened by the fact that most of the prophets she consulted were men.
“If she really wanted help, why not seek guidance from female prophets?
Why only male ones? I gave her a divorce token in June, but she did not tell her relatives, so I further gave her aunt US$5 as a divorce token. But she keeps coming back to my Tsonzo home. I no longer love her, and I am done.
We do not have a child together — the only one we had died after seven days,” he said.
Presiding over the matter, Chief Mutasa reprimanded Zinyika for letting religious differences destroy her marriage, describing the situation as avoidable had she submitted to her husband.
“This is not a divorce court — we build marriages here. You are still young. If you no longer love each other, separate peacefully. Those who go to church should be looking for solutions, not problems,” ruled Chief Mutasa.
He told Zinyika to apologise to her husband and be submissive, while urging Tapfira to give his marriage a final chance.
“Your husband did not want you to visit these prophets, yet you continued. The same faith that has destroyed your marriage should have been what strengthened it,” said Chief Mutasa.
However, he told them that if they wished to part ways, they needed to do so peacefully.
“Looking at you two, you are still young people, and this is not the end of the world. If you no longer love each other, do what is supposed to be done and separate amicably. I cannot force you to stay together; what if you end up killing each other? It will be my fault. Just know that there is life after the end of this marriage,” said Chief Mutasa.
