There is strong suspicion that a 26-year-old woman from
Chief Magombedze’s area in Gutu who slipped and drowned in a river met her
tragic end as she tried to wade off a prophet’s attempts to rape her.
Priviledge Mabasa was found firmly clutching the
self-styled prophet Benson Mutuzungara’s shirt in her hands when her body was
retrieved by the Police from Mutorahuku River on Thursday last week.
A family spokesperson said elders agreed to bury Mabasa
with the shirt clutched in her hands after they failed to remove it.
Masvingo Province Police spokesperson Assistant Inspector
Kudakwashe Dhewa confirmed the matter and urged the public to conduct baptizing
activities at safe places and in the presence of life savers.
Emotions were high at Mabasa’s burial at Rwambiwa Village
under Chief Chitsa in Gutu with her parents accusing Madzibaba Benson of raping
and murdering their child.
Mabasa came from Rwambiwa but was married to Brighton
Chimbeu of Magombedze.
The late’s uncle and family spokesperson Team Shereni
Mabasa said Madzibaba Benson failed to explain why he removed his shirt when he
was baptizing the deceased. He also failed to explain why it was his wife
Irikidzai Mhlanga who first discovered the floating body in the river.
Efforts to get a comment from Madzibaba Benson were
fruitless but in an audio shared by Mabasa, the prophet says the deceased and
her sister-in-law Tendai Chimbeu put up at his place on Sunday while waiting
for baptism on Monday.
He said that a strong wind blew as he baptized the deceased
and she slipped out of his hands, fell into the river and disappeared. He said
he reported the matter to the village head and the deceased’s family.
“We suspect that
Madzibaba Benson did something to Privilege because she died whilst holding his
T-shirt in her hands and Madzibaba cannot explain why he removed the T-shirt.
“We buried her with the T-shirt because we failed to pull
it out of her clutching hands,” said Mabasa
Mabasa added that they buried Privilege in a body bag
because her body was in an advanced state of decomposition.
A distraught Privilege’s husband Chimbeu said his wife had
asked him to accompany her somewhere but did not say where. He said she later
left with his sister while he was away to an unknown destination. Masvingo
Mirror
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