Neighbours witchcraft accusations heard in court




Ruvarashe Selina Maware
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A Bulawayo woman dragged her neighbour to court for allegedly claiming that she was a witch and prostitute who once carried out an abortion.

Ruvarashe Selina Maware from Emakhandeni suburb told the court she could no longer stand her neighbour Chelesani Moyo’s witchcraft accusations and insults, hence she applied for a peace order.

“Chelesani Moyo is my neighbour. She insults me stating that I am a prostitute and that I am a witch. She is also disturbing my peace by stating that I performed an abortion yet I had a miscarriage.

Chelesani Moyo

Chelesani Moyo

“On 12 February this year she sent her sister to threaten me together with my sister Paidamoyo,” said Maware.
The feud between Maware and Moyo reportedly started when the latter’s children went to play close to the former’s gate.

Moyo denied labelling her neighbour a witch but she admitted that their relationship was not cordial.

“What she said is totally different from what happened. On the day we had a misunderstanding my children were playing close to their gate and she didn’t want them to come close to it (gate). When I called them Maware started to charge at them saying they should remove their footprints and that is when we had a misunderstanding.

“At the height of that misunderstanding she started labelling me a witch. She indicated that they were always sick and I was the one who was bewitching them.  She went on to insult me saying I was always having children with different men,” responded an emotionally charged Moyo.

Maware, however, maintained that Moyo labelled her a witch saying she was the one who ordered her children to remove their footprints fearing that she (Maware) was going to take them for witchcraft purposes.

In his ruling presiding magistrate Tinashe Tashaya ordered both parties to pay $50 as recognisance to bind them for 12 months by keeping peace and refraining from abusing each other, verbally and emotionally.

The payment of the recognisance was later suspended on condition that each party does not breach peace for the next 12 months and whoever breaches before that stipulated period would pay the amount in question.