Three years down the line, the whereabouts of the corpse
that was dug up soon after its burial remain unknown.
Although the father’s child, Joe Mureyani, later passed on
under mysterious circumstances and his wife relocated to South Africa, members
of the Mureyani family were dragged to Headman Chigodora’s court last Saturday
to explain why they never bothered to inform the local traditional leadership
following the incident.
The issue has since been transferred to Acting Chief
Zimunya’s court and will be heard on August 6.
Headman Chigodora’s court heard that three years ago, the
Mureyani family did not report to the traditional leadership that its son’s
body and coffin had vanished from the grave after burial.
However, the family made a police report.
Headman Chigodora said the coffin was later found, but the
body is still missing, three years later.
Asked why they did not report the matter to their Village
Head or Headman Chigodora, the family begged for forgiveness.
Derrick Mureyani narrated: “My aunt was walking past the
grave when she discovered that it had been tampered with. The grave had been
dug and the coffin removed. This happened a few days after the child’s burial.
We told our elders, and we conducted a search, but found nothing.
“However, days later, someone saw a child’s coffin inside
the house of a villager who is mentally-challenged. The coffin looked like the
one that we had buried the child in.
“Police were alerted and the villager was arrested. He was
taken to the psychiatric unit where he was evaluated and was released recently.
“However, the body is yet to be found up to this day,” said
Mureyani.
Inside the coffin that was found in the villager’s house
was the shroud that the child’s body was wrapped in, as well as his clothes
that had been put in his grave.
Headman Chigodora accused the family of performing rituals
at the cemetery without notifying the traditional leadership.
“As far as I am concerned, that child’s spirit is roaming
around this area because the body is yet to be found. This is probably why your
family is suffering from mysterious illnesses.
“You had no right to visit the cemetery and perform your
rituals without notifying the local leadership.
“You reburied the empty coffin on your own without
informing anyone. This shows that you were trying to cover up something. Since
you do not want to tell this court why you never reported this matter, it is
proper for me to transfer the matter to Chief Zimunya’s court,” said Headman
Chigodora.
The family then said the traditional healers they consulted
over the matter accused the family’s patriarch, Zacharia Mureyani, of being
behind the corpse’s disappearance; as well as Joe’s death.
“After the mysterious disappearance of the child’s corpse,
Zacharia ordered Joe to deliver some red cloth to Clever’s home. Joe was not aware
that this was a ploy to kill Clever.
“However, this backfired on Joe and he died shortly
afterwards. This matter was also kept under wraps for three years.
‘‘This means that both Joe and his son’s restless spirit
are still roaming around this area,” said Shepherd Mureyani, a family member.
“We were told by a traditional healer that the late family
members’ spirits are roaming around Zacharia’s homestead and there will be no
peace within this family until he confesses.
“Zacharia confessed on that day, but has not done anything
to save the situation,” said Shepherd.
However, Zacharia vehemently denied being responsible for
the disappearance of the child’s corpse.
“The truth is that there are a lot of witches and wizards
in our family and people should not only accuse me,” he said. Manica Post
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