Ms Constance Tshuma (39) is said to have committed suicide,
a couple of weeks ago, by jumping off a three-storey building in SA’s upmarket
suburb of Midrand.
However, her family said they suspected she had been
murdered by her estranged husband, who they claim was abusive towards her.
Relatives carried placards outside the funeral palour, with
various messages on gender based violence, with some threatening to mete out
instant justice on Mr Medisen Mugwagwa who had travelled with the late Ms
Tshuma’s body from South Africa.
Some of the messages on the placards read; “Stop killing
women: No to Gender Based Violence”, “Where is my mother, Meddy is asking” and
“Mobilise commitment and action to end Gender Based Violence”.
Questioned on the circumstances leading to his wife’s death,
Mr Mugwagwa rebuked this reporter telling him that he had no right to question
anyone on the death.
“Who are you, I saw you talking to those arrogant
relatives, you must first come to me and I grant you that right, please leave
me alone,” said Mr Mugwagwa.
A brother to the late, Ms Tshuma, Mr Thembani Jubane said
all they wanted were answers because a lot of things were not adding up.
“My brother-in-law claims they had a small fight in the
house on the fateful day, which resulted in my sister jumping from the flat
which resulted in her death.
‘‘The reason we do not believe this story is because my
sister was naked and the distance which she is said to have jumped is not much
to result in death and even the landing area was a thick layer of lawn.
“All we want is to get to the bottom of this issue. When we got to the scene she just had a cut on her lip, pathologist told us that she died from blunt injuries because she landed on her stomach and chest, so there was internal bleeding,” said Mr Jubane.
He revealed that they hoped to get closure once they get a
detailed post mortem report so as to get an understanding of the cause of Ms
Tshuma’s death.
“What we know as a family is that our sister was in an abusive relationship, she was on
depression medication and had constantly complained about Mr Mugwagwa’s conduct
towards her.
‘‘Further, the manner in which Mr Mugwagwa is treating us
as a family is leaving us with more questions than answers.
‘‘He has boasted that no one in the family can do anything
to him, of which we feel is unfortunate especially to our parents who just want
closure on what happened to their daughter,” said Mr Jubane.
Another relative who preferred anonymity said their fear
was that Ms Tshuma’s death will not get the justice it deserved.
“The fact that Mr Mugwagwa is walking free shows us that
our daughter’s death will just be forgotten, which is the reason we came here
and held this demonstration so that everyone, even Mr Mugwagwa, knows what we
really feel,” said the relative.
Ms Tshuma was buried at Athlone Cemetery in the city
yesterday. Sunday News
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