A Chigodora family is in hot soup after it discreetly reburied its six-year-old child’s empty coffin following the vandalisation of the grave, coffin and body.
Three years down the line, the whereabouts of the corpse that was dug up soon after its burial remain unknown.
Although the father’s child, Joe Mureyani, later passed on under mysterious circumstances and his wife relocated to South Africa, members of the Mureyani family were dragged to Headman Chigodora’s court last Saturday to explain why they never bothered to inform the local traditional leadership following the incident.
The issue has since been transferred to Acting Chief Zimunya’s court and will be heard on August 6.
Headman Chigodora’s court heard that three years ago, the Mureyani family did not report to the traditional leadership that its son’s body and coffin had vanished from the grave after burial.
However, the family made a police report.
Headman Chigodora said the coffin was later found, but the body is still missing, three years later. Asked why they did not report the matter to their Village Head or Headman Chigodora, the family begged for forgiveness.
Derrick Mureyani narrated: “My aunt was walking past the grave when she discovered that it had been tampered with. The grave had been dug and the coffin removed. This happened a few days after the child’s burial. We told our elders, and we conducted a search, but found nothing.
“However, days later, someone saw a child’s coffin inside the house of a villager who is mentally-challenged. The coffin looked like the one that we had buried the child in.
“Police were alerted and the villager was arrested. He was taken to the psychiatric unit where he was evaluated and was released recently.
“However, the body is yet to be found up to this day,” said Mureyani.
Inside the coffin that was found in the villager’s house was the shroud that the child’s body was wrapped in, as well as his clothes that had been put in his grave.
Headman Chigodora accused the family of performing rituals at the cemetery without notifying the traditional leadership.
“As far as I am concerned, that child’s spirit is roaming around this area because the body is yet to be found. This is probably why your family is suffering from mysterious illnesses.
“You had no right to visit the cemetery and perform your rituals without notifying the local leadership.
“You reburied the empty coffin on your own without informing anyone. This shows that you were trying to cover up something. Since you do not want to tell this court why you never reported this matter, it is proper for me to transfer the matter to Chief Zimunya’s court,” said Headman Chigodora.
The family then said the traditional healers they consulted over the matter accused the family’s patriarch, Zacharia Mureyani, of being behind the corpse’s disappearance; as well as Joe’s death.
“After the mysterious disappearance of the child’s corpse, Zacharia ordered Joe to deliver some red cloth to Clever’s home. Joe was not aware that this was a ploy to kill Clever.
“However, this backfired on Joe and he died shortly afterwards. This matter was also kept under wraps for three years.
‘‘This means that both Joe and his son’s restless spirit are still roaming around this area,” said Shepherd Mureyani, a family member.
“We were told by a traditional healer that the late family members’ spirits are roaming around Zacharia’s homestead and there will be no peace within this family until he confesses.
“Zacharia confessed on that day, but has not done anything to save the situation,” said Shepherd.
However, Zacharia vehemently denied being responsible for the disappearance of the child’s corpse.
“The truth is that there are a lot of witches and wizards in our family and people should not only accuse me,” he said.
— Manica Post
