Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
A MUTASA man has denied killing his cousin after relatives accused him of igniting spiritual turmoil by dating the dead man’s widow.
Mairosi Chisuko, who now lives in South Africa, was hauled before Chief Mutasa’s community court last Saturday, facing allegations that his relationship with the widow of his late cousin, Bright Sanyatwe, had cursed the family. Relatives claim Chisuko is to blame, not only for Sanyatwe’s 2022 suicide, but also for a string of mysterious illnesses they believe stem from an unsettled spirit.
Sanyatwe, who had been working in South Africa, committed suicide in November 2022.
His mother, Esnath Muterere, told the court she believes Chisuko’s actions drove her son to his death, adding that prophets have confirmed her son’s spirit is restless — and that the family must answer for it.
Muterere said Chisuko agreed to meet the funeral expenses, including repatriating the body, but only paid R300 of the more than R24 000 owed. She wants him to support Sanyatwe’s children.
“Family members later informed me that during consultations, Chisuko admitted that he had been involved with my son’s wife and that my son’s spirit was troubling him because of it. He also made statements which made us believe he bore responsibility for my son’s death. As a family, we agreed that he would assist with the funeral expenses we incurred, including the costs of repatriating the body from South Africa, but he never fulfilled those commitments,” said Muterere, adding that Chisuko had only contributed a small amount before returning to South Africa, and had since avoided further family discussions and consultations with traditional healers.
“It should have been more than R24 000, and he only gave me R300. I also now want him to take responsibility for the welfare of my late son’s children,” she said.
Chisuko denied responsibility for the death, adding that Sanyatwe had marital problems and longstanding emotional struggles, and had spoken openly about suicide before his death.
He admitted a relationship with the widow, but said it began months after Sanyatwe’s death, and ended when she remarried.
Chisuko said he made false admissions under pressure after family crises escalated.
“My cousin had problems in his marriage and had spoken openly about taking his own life before he eventually did so. After his death, I later became involved with his widow, but that relationship eventually ended when she married another man. When relatives later learnt about our past relationship, family tensions escalated,” said Chisuko.
According to him, prophets and traditional healers linked the illnesses to the spirit of the deceased cousin, claiming it was unhappy about the relationship he had with the widow.
“Intense pressure from relatives, coupled with several family crises, eventually pushed me into making admissions I now claim were false. My wife had attempted to take poison, family members were threatening self-harm and everyone was demanding answers. Under that pressure, I admitted to things I had not done because I feared more tragedies would occur. I never killed my cousin. The only thing I did was become involved with his wife after his death,” he said, further claiming that after his alleged confession, the children who had been suffering mysteriously recovered, reinforcing relatives’ belief that the spirit had been appeased.
However, he said fresh illnesses affecting family members had revived accusations against him.
He pleaded with the court to allow the family to seek further guidance from traditional healers, warning that the continued pressure was taking a severe emotional toll on him.
His elder brother, Obert Chisuko, disputed parts of his testimony and described the deceased as a troubled man who had struggled with depression and had previously expressed suicidal thoughts. However, he alleged that Sanyatwe had repeatedly complained that one of his cousins was pursuing his wife while he was still alive.
“Bright often told me that one of our relatives was interested in his wife and that it was causing him distress. He had attempted suicide before and frequently spoke about ending his life. We believe the relationship issue contributed to his emotional suffering,” said Obert, further claiming that when his brother Mairosi eventually admitted to the affair during family consultations, children who had been experiencing unexplained illnesses recovered shortly afterwards.
“Now that he has distanced himself from the process, the problems are resurfacing and people believe the spirit remains unsettled,” he said.
The late Sanyatwe’s son, Blessward, also told the court that shortly before his death, his dad had telephoned him expressing distress over family disputes.
“My father told me he was being mistreated by some relatives and that one of his cousins was involved with my mother. He sounded deeply troubled and said he wanted to take his own life. I tried to encourage him to remain calm so we could talk further, but a short while later I received news that he had died,” said Blessward.
Another relative, Good Chisuko, whose children have reportedly been suffering unexplained seizures, said several traditional healers had linked the family’s troubles to unresolved spiritual issues surrounding Sanyatwe’s death.
“My children suddenly began experiencing symptoms similar to epilepsy despite never having suffered from the condition before. When we sought both medical and traditional assistance, questions about the deceased’s spirit kept arising. The concerns were not raised by me but by the healers themselves,” he said.
Chief Mutasa advised the family to continue consulting traditional healers and spiritual experts in an effort to establish the source of the disturbances.
