A 70-year-old woman from Guruve died after eating African spider plant leaves (Nyevhe) that had been given to her and her husband by a relative. Mary Chirasikwa and her 81-year-old husband Luke Mugarwe received the dried leaves from their nephew Talent Marirahanda on July 17.
After cooking and eating the leaves with sadza, the couple started vomiting and complaining of stomach pain. A passerby gave them fresh milk which caused Mugarwe to vomit more.
According to the Herald, their 9-year-old nephew found them vomiting and Chirasikwa told him what happened before Mugarwe threw out the leftover food. All 11 of their chickens then ate the leaves from the rubbish pit and died.
The next day, Mugarwe took his wife to the hospital as her condition worsened. She was admitted to Guruve Hospital but succumbed to her illness on July 19. Police were alerted to the case on July 20 when relatives went for a burial order but no samples could be collected as the evidence had been destroyed. An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
