Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Reporter
RELATIVES of a recently deceased Honde Valley woman have refused to distribute her belongings, leaving her husband and five children stranded outside their home since October 7.
What began as family tensions has now escalated into a bitter standoff that has reached Chief Mutasa’s community court.
At the heart of the dispute are allegations that unusual rituals were performed on the woman while she was bedridden.
Her family, the Nyazunas, insist that certain items linked to those rituals must be surrendered before any cultural processes can take place.
Making his plea before the court, the widower, Pardon Mabota, recounted how the conflict first surfaced during his wife’s illness in July. Despite informing her relatives of her deteriorating condition, he said none came to offer support, forcing him to seek alternative help as her health worsened.
“My wife fell ill in July, and I told her family, but they never came to check up on her. I ended up going to a Jekenisheni Church prophet who asked me to bring white, red and green cloths, a knife, a clay pot and sweets. He told me that the items were needed for her recovery, but later said he would only assist in the presence of her parents. The problem was that her parents refused to cooperate,” Mabota told the court.
Mabota said he took his wife to different medical facilities after spiritual consultations proved fruitless.
Doctors, he said, told him she needed urgent blood transfusions and continuous care.
“She could not eat or walk. She was completely bedridden. My main issue is that while she was fighting for her life, her family wanted nothing to do with her,” he explained.
According to Mabota, matters worsened when his wife died on October 7. He said his in-laws refused to bury her unless he paid them.
“They refused to bury her before I paid them. They said I had to give them US$300 and the paraphernalia the Jekenisheni prophet had asked for. I refused, but they insisted, saying they would not bury their child without it. I ended up paying another US$300, making it US$600 for us to bury her,” he said.
He added that both he and his in-laws were members of the Mugodhi Apostolic Church, and believed their hostility stemmed from the fact that he had sought help from a Jekenisheni prophet, whom they considered outside their faith.
“That is why they were punishing me. They said I disrespected them by going elsewhere instead of following church procedures. Now they are refusing to distribute my wife’s clothing and furniture as per our culture,” he said.
Mabota said all his late wife’s belongings were locked inside the kitchen, effectively blocking him and his young children including a one-year-old from accessing the house.
“They left everything in the kitchen and locked it, saying they will only distribute the belongings after I appease her spirit. We cannot enter the house, and we are staying outside with the children,” he said.
His father-in-law, Isaac Nyazuna, disputed Mabota’s narrative, claiming the husband had systematically sidelined them throughout the illness.
Nyazuna said Mabota repeatedly told them he had full authority over his wife and did not need their input.
“During her illness, he told us that she was his wife and he had every right to do whatever he wanted with her. We only intervened when we heard about the rituals being done on her. We distributed some of her clothes after she passed, but the spiritualist later told us that he did not give us everything. That is why we demanded those clothes, and when he did not give them to us, we surrendered back to him everything we had shared,” Nyazuna said.
He described one of the rituals he allegedly witnessed during a visit, which he said confirmed his suspicions that something unnatural had been done to the deceased.
“One day when I visited her while she was bedridden, they performed strange rituals right in front of me. They took the clay pot, sweets and chimera (malt). They put the chimera on her, threw sweets over her and started ululating around her. It was strange and frightening. That is why we demanded those items, we needed to know what had been done to her,” he said.
The deceased’s sister, Dorcas Chisuko, defended her decision to tell her uncles about the rituals, saying she felt compelled to speak up to avoid being haunted by her sister’s spirit.
“I never told anyone that Mabota killed my sister. I only informed my uncles about the rituals because I didn’t want to be haunted for hiding information. The way the rituals were done made me uncomfortable. At the funeral, Mabota wanted to attack me for mentioning about the paraphernalia,” she said.
Chisuko denied harbouring malice towards her brother-in-law, but insisted that transparency around her sister’s final days was necessary.
“I just wanted everything to be known so that her soul can rest peacefully. There were too many unanswered questions,” she said.
Presiding over the matter, Chief Mutasa condemned the growing hostility between the two sides, noting that the family’s breakdown barely weeks after the woman’s death was unacceptable.
He criticised Chisuko for spreading information that fuelled tensions, and also faulted Mabota for failing to manage the situation appropriately.
“This is a time for unity, not anger. Both families must reflect on their actions. You are quarrelling over rumours and fear instead of supporting the children left behind,” Chief Mutasa said.
The chief ordered the family to immediately distribute the deceased’s belongings according to cultural norms, stressing that no child should be forced to live outside their own home.
“The belongings must be shared, and the children must not suffer. Whatever misunderstandings you have must not affect them,” he directed.
