Mutare – A family in Mutare has been torn apart by accusations of witchcraft, culminating in a dramatic hearing at Chief Saurombe’s community court. The feud pits two sisters-in-law against each other, with one alleging that the other is a witch who “feasts” on people’s private parts.
Mucharira recounted an incident on October 6, 2024, when Manjongoma arrived at her home, distraught and claiming that someone was trying to kill her. “On October 6, 2024, she came to my home crying, saying her brother should be prepared for her funeral as someone was trying to kill her. She said she was looking for a space for them to dig her grave after her death because someone was bewitching her. I went into the room intending to greet her, but she refused, saying I was not her relative. She left with her brother.”
The situation escalated when Manjongoma allegedly took Mucharira’s crocs (slides) from her doorstep. “Later, she took my crocs (slides) from my doorstep, saying she had confiscated them because I was the one bewitching her. This is a tradition that one does when they suspect they are being bewitched,” Mucharira explained.
Mucharira further detailed instances where Manjongoma publicly accused her of witchcraft, making her life unbearable. “On November 23, 2024, I was passing by her home when she started singing out loud, uttering words that my alleged witchcraft would soon be over. She later approached me and asked why I wanted to kill her. She asked my husband why he was still married to me when I was bewitching her,” she said.
The accusations took a bizarre turn when Mucharira claimed that one of her aunties, with whom she resides, began sleepwalking and talking in her sleep, claiming that Mucharira was strangling her. “That is when they fabricated the allegations that I eat flesh from the private parts. I could not take it anymore because their family continue accusing me of witchcraft. That is why I have reported the matter before Chief Saurombe’s community court. I no longer move freely because people in the area name-call and badmouth me,” she lamented.
In her defence, Maria Manjongoma claimed that the accusations stemmed from incidents that occurred shortly after Mucharira joined their family 14 years ago. “She confiscated my son’s leather jacket, and afterwards gave him some goat meat, and he fell sick after eating the meat. Even today, some of his teeth are bigger than others,” Manjongoma alleged.
Manjongoma then made the shocking claim that Mucharira had repeatedly tried to attack her brother’s and sister’s private parts. “She has on countless occasions tried to grab my brother’s private parts with the intention of eating them. She also tried that with my other sister’s private parts, and people had to shove her away. She also collected soil from the ground where I would have walked on and used it for rituals (akandinokora tsoka). She used a very big needle to strike the soil, and from then on, my legs became very painful, as if someone was attacking me with needles. I approached different healers, and they told me that Tryphine was a witch, and she was using my son’s jacket and the soil she collected to try and kill me,” said Manjongoma.
Manjongoma also confessed to informing her brother about the witchcraft allegations against his wife. “I asked my brother what to do, and he told me that it was not the first time he had heard about the witchcraft allegations against his wife. He claimed that she had even tried to kill her own child. He also said most of the time when they were sleeping together, Mucharira would try to kill him by pulling his private parts,” she said.
After hearing both sides of the story, Chief Saurombe ruled that Manjongoma should return Mucharira’s shoes. However, Mucharira refused to accept them, fearing they had been used for rituals.
Chief Saurombe then ordered Manjongoma to pay Mucharira US$5 for the slides, while the court burned those that were presented as an exhibit. “These are what we call mere allegations. Why did you not report that she is a witch when you confiscated her shoes? She is the one who ended up reporting the matter here because she is disgruntled by your actions. We cannot conclude that she is a witch in this court because she is the victim here,” he said.
The ruling highlights the complexities of witchcraft accusations in Zimbabwean society, where traditional beliefs often clash with modern legal systems. While the court case may have provided some resolution, the deep-seated animosity between the two sisters-in-law suggests that the family feud is far from over.
