A 23-YEAR old Zimunya man who poisoned his father during a
cleansing ceremony along Mpudzi River has been slapped with a 20-year jail
sentence by a Mutare High Court judge.
Dereck Chitakatira revealed during trial before Justice
Muzenda that he committed the gruesome crime because he wanted to inherit a
Madza 323 sedan.
Of the 20 years, two years were set aside a condition of
good behavior. He was charged with murder as defeined in Section 47(1) (a) or
(b) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23.
Principal public prosecutor Ms Jane Rose Matsikidze told
the court that the suspect killed his father Lloyd Chitakatira on March 18 last
year.
“The accused resided at the deceased’s homestead and were
both members of the Jeke Mission Church,” said Ms Matsikidze.
“On March 18 last year the family members completeted their
fasting programme and went to Mpudzi river for cleansing. As per their custom
the accused person, as the first son, was to conduct the cleansing of the whole
family.
“Before leaving home the accused person asked the deceased
to take from the kitchen a cascade container which had water laced with some
poison. At the river the accused cleansed himself, other family members and
lastly the deceased. Before immersing the deceased the accused asked him to
bring the water bottle into the pool. After cleansing him he asked his father
drink the contents before the bottle was thrown into the river and swept away,”
she said.
On arrival home at around 4pm, the deceased started
vomiting and complained of stomach pains. He was ferried to a clinic in the
morning the following day and he died there.
A few days after burial, the accused went to seek spiritual
assistance from a spiritual healer whom he informed that the deceased was
appearing in his dreams asking him why he killed him.
During the session it emerged that the water in the cascade
container had been toxic and it caused his father’s death.
The deceased’s remains were exhumed and samples taken for
scientific examination. Manica Post
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