Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
A WATSOMBA man who allegedly terrorised his own mother and sister for years — branding her a witch and threatening to kill her — was last Saturday referred to the police by Chief Mutasa.
The case was brought before the traditional court by Allen Nyakawa, nephew to the elderly woman, Mbuya Diana Nyakawa Gwenzi.
Nyakawa said the family had exhausted all efforts to resolve the dispute peacefully, but the abuse had escalated beyond control.
He accused his aunt’s married son, Ngonidzashe Gwenzi, of turning the elderly woman’s life into a nightmare by mobilising relatives, prophets, and traditional healers against her.
“My aunt is being abused by her children, especially Ngonidzashe, who brings home traditional healers and prophetic churches, accusing her of witchcraft,” said Nyakawa.
The court heard that the family conflict dates back to 2019, when Ngonidzashe Gwenzi allegedly fell mysteriously from his motorbike and later developed severe wounds on his leg that required hospitalisation and surgery.
Ngonidzashe said the bizarre accident left him searching for spiritual explanations.
“I fell while sober, and it was just so mysterious. I was on my motorbike when I felt something hit me on the face. I fell down and became unconscious. My wife suspected I was drunk,” he said.
After the accident, Ngonidzashe claimed he consulted prophets and traditional healers, who allegedly told him that the person responsible for his suffering would eventually visit him.
“My mother was the first person to visit me, and that is why I started calling her a witch,” he explained.
He further alleged that his troubles did not end with the crash. Strange wounds began appearing on his leg, forcing doctors to cut away part of the flesh.
“My siblings are the ones who went to healers to get me help at that moment,” he added.
However, his mother dismissed the accusations as baseless and painful, saying she sacrificed everything to raise her son after the death of her husband when he was still a young child.
“My husband died when my child was doing Grade Three. I took care of him until he became the man he is today. Now he is married, and comes with his wife to insult me with dangerous weapons like knives,” said Mbuya Gwenzi.
She said at one point Ngonidzashe went to her homestead accompanied by church members who forcibly made her sit on a reed mat, accusing her of witchcraft.
“He came with his church people and they called me a witch. They forcibly made me sit on a pestle (duri). All my children teamed up and consulted healers, saying I was their witch. However, they traversed the length and breadth of this country, and found that I was not the witch. They now want forgiveness from me, but it is not easy,” she said emotionally.
Mbuya Gwenzi said she wanted appeasement from her children for humiliating and emotionally tormenting her.
“I want appeasement. However, Ngoni persists that I am a witch. He came with knives threatening to stab me. Imagine a child that I looked after since he was in Grade Three, now thinks I want to kill him,” she said, further revealing that the family conflict had escalated to the extent that Ngonidzashe allegedly attacked other siblings who defended her.
“He attacks his younger brother, accusing him of blindly supporting me. He says his younger brother will only realise that I am a witch after his marriage. His wife says I am the one who caused her three miscarriages. He was once arrested after he attacked his siblings for supporting me. I even obtained a protection order against him,” she said.
Ngonidzashe’s sister, Lindiwe Gwenzi, supported their mother’s testimony, and said every healer and prophet they had consulted advised the family to apologise to their mother.
“The healers told us to appease our mother because we had wronged her after one of us called her a witch. I am also being accused of being a witch together with my mother,” she said.
Lindiwe narrated how relations within the family deteriorated after Ngonidzashe rejected food brought to him while he was in hospital by his mother and sister.
“I went to see him while he was in hospital, and the food that I had brought him was thrown away. Even the food that our mother brought him was also thrown away,” she said.
She said prophets who visited the family’s homestead intensified the accusations by alleging that she and her mother were responsible for the deaths of their husbands.
“They brought prophets at our homestead who claimed we killed our husband,” she said.
Lindiwe also accused her brother of violent behaviour linked to alcohol abuse.
She added that she narrowly escaped injury after Ngonidzashe allegedly attempted to stab her with a knife during one of the family disputes.
Chief Mutasa expressed concern over the escalating violence and referred the matter to the police.
He referred Ngonidzashe to the police, saying that attacking people with knives was a criminal offence.
