Harare – A Stoneridge family is living in fear and turmoil as they claim their children are being attacked by goblins, forcing some of them to abandon their home and seek refuge elsewhere.
Mrs Nolin Hwende (38), a mother of two children allegedly targeted by these malevolent spirits, says she is at her wit’s end and desperately seeking a solution to their plight.
“I am facing a terrible problem with my two children, a boy and a girl, who are being attacked by goblins,” Mrs Hwende explained. “They only started being afflicted by these spirits here in Harare in January this year. These are the children I had with my first husband, with whom I had three children before we separated. I was then taken in by my current husband here in Stoneridge. I have been living with these children with the agreement of my current husband and their father. The boy is 21 years old, and the girl is 16. I have four children in total, including the youngest from my previous husband and one from my new husband.”
Mrs Hwende recounted the events leading to the family’s current predicament. “I separated from my first husband for various reasons and then remarried. My eldest son got married and was living with his wife in Epworth, but he would come back home. Then, on January 13th this year, my daughter started behaving strangely, talking to a spirit that claimed to be a goblin, saying that my daughter was its wife and would have sex with it,” she said.
“The spirit possessing my child would say it wanted to be paid for its services as a goblin, for the work it claimed to be doing. We tried seeking help for her, but nothing worked,” Mrs Hwende lamented.
She further explained that her eldest son, who was living in Epworth, also began exhibiting similar symptoms and was summoned back home after showing signs of mental distress.
“The landlord where he was renting called me, saying that my son wanted to stab him with a knife. I rushed there and brought him back home. When he got here, he tried to drown himself in the well in our yard, pouring water over himself. We started seeking help for both of them, but nothing has been effective. They say that when they are possessed, they get i nto a trance while facing each other,” Mrs Hwende said.
According to Mrs Hwende, her daughter often cries and runs away from home, claiming to see a short, bearded man carrying a clay pot containing a horn and blue-coloured water.
“My daughter told me everything she sees, asking if she should accept the pot. I told her to reject everything. The problem has grown worse. The children’s father and other relatives came and took them to their rural home in Chiendambuya, Rusape. But it is said that the problem has not ended there. We are now seeking help from the public, from anyone who can assist,” Mrs Hwende pleaded.
She added that the children sometimes strip naked.
“Some people initially thought that the children were taking drugs, but wherever we go, we are told it is evil spirits and goblin attacks. We have suffered with these children, and we need help,” Mrs Hwende cried.
In light of the family’s ordeal, Pastor Hazvinei Muchefa of RECFEMI Ministries in Harare advises that the family should seek help together to resolve the children’s problems.
“It is clear that some witchcraft has been done, so these people need to seek help together to heal these children because they are unaware of what is happening,” Pastor Muchefa said.
The Hwende family’s desperate situation highlights the persistence of traditional beliefs and practices in modern Zimbabwe, where spiritual explanations are often sought for unexplained phenomena.
