adminA sombre atmosphere engulfed the Anglican Church on Wednesday last week when friends and relatives gathered to bid farewell and pay last respect to their departed friend and relative, Barbra Sibanda, who was brutally killed by her son, Kudakwashe Ashley Sibanda, who stabbed her seven times on the left side of her chest.
The most disturbing fact was that she was killed by her own son, a very unusual scenario and the most unexpected way of dying.
Kudakwashe told the police that he did not stab his mother five times as earlier alleged by detectives but instead stabbed her seven times while she pleaded for mercy.
“I asked her to draw the curtains and I then stabbed her while she was pulling them together. She turned to me and said what have I done wrong to you my son to deserve this?” said Kudakwashe while indicating how he brutally killed Barbra.
His siblings, McDonald, Munyaradzi and Audrey plunged into deep mourning and are still failing to come to grips with the fact that their brother killed their mother.
“At the moment we are grieving and we are shocked by the murder. There is nothing much that we can say as relatives with regards to that,” Audrey said.
Her brother McDonald was equally distraught and suggested that he recompose himself before pouring his heart out.
“I need to calm down and we discuss this on a later date,” he said.
This is a clear testimony that they are still failing to come to terms with the tragic incident.
Will they be able to forgive their brother? That is something else.
On the day of the burial, the lad came back to his senses and became in total control of his mental faculties.
He attributed his unruly behaviour to juvenile delinquency.
In his letter which was read in church during a service held for his late mother before burial, Kudakwashe sincerely apologised to his siblings for taking away their loved one.
He said while he was ready to take full responsibility for his unacceptable actions he was also seeking forgiveness from his brothers and sister for having betrayed them and letting them down.
“I would want to apologise for killing my mother. I am pleading with my brothers and sister to come see me in prison so that I can apologise to them personally. I am truly sorry for what I have done,” reads part of the letter.
However, some strongly believe that evil begets evil.
Kudakwashe was a little secret that his mother kept away from her relatives.
The Sunday News has it in good authority that while Barbra was married to the late football legend William Sibanda, she allegedly cheated on him with a Gweru socialite, the late Douglas “Uncle Doug” Mugadzaweta and sired a child together.
Mugadzaweta fled to Ireland where he died in a car accident a few years back.
Sibanda turned alcoholic when he got wind of his wife’s infidelity and subsequently died while the child was two years old.
In the Shona culture, killing one’s mother is taboo and can invite misfortunes to the family and cause untold suffering.
Siring a child in an extra-marital affair can also invite misfortunes to a family of the perpetrator. Such was the case with Barbra.
Zimbabwe National Practitioners Association of Zimbabwe President Friday Chisanyu believes that, Kudakwashe’s behaviour could have been a reflection of his real family and ancestors’ fury for keeping him away from his real relatives.
“Usually if a child is kept away from his real relatives because his mother is trying to protect her image and also keeping him a secret, he or she might exhibit some unusual characteristics. If they go to spirit mediums they will be told that that could be the source of the misfortunes they are encountering. Also killing one’s own mother invites misfortunes,” he said.
Online Reporter