MVUMA – A woman from Village 74 in Huchu near Mvuma shocked mourners gathered at a funeral on Tuesday when she passed urine and shoved fresh soil taken from the grave into the mouth of her son’s father-in-law who had collapsed.
Martha Mudzorwi (53) appeared before Magistrate Tayengwa Chibanda in Mvuma on Wednesday charged with violating a dead body.
Prosecutor Michael Kazomba told the court that the complainant, Kenneth Zwihoko died soon after the incident. People gathered at the funeral apprehended Mudzorwi soon after the incident and handed her over to the Mvuma Police Station.
It is the State case that Mudzorwi’s son who is also Zwihoko’s son-in-law was hit and killed by a car in South Africa and they were both attending the funeral when the incident happened.
Zwihoko who had clashes with his son in-law’s relatives because he wanted to take his daughter away to attend her grandmother’s (maternal) burial in Sanyati collapsed soon after the burial of the son-in-law.
Mudzorwi rushed to the scene and passed urine into Zwihoko’s face and mouth. She then collected a handful of fresh soil from her son’s grave and shoved it into Zwihoko’s mouth.
Zwihoko died on the spot and it is not clear whether Mudzorwi urinated on the deceased after he died or when he was still alive.
In her defence, Mudzorwi told Magistrate Chibanda that she urinated and shoved soil into the deceased’s mouth because she believed that her late son was angry with Zwihoko for trying to take away his daughter to go and attend another funeral.
She said she did what she did in order to appease her late son so that he could forgive his father-in-law and hence spare his life.
The son died when he was hit by a car in South Africa where he had gone in the company of his wife. His body was repatriated to Zimbabwe and buried on Sunday and Zwihoko collapsed on Tuesday.
Magistrate Chibanda acquitted Mudzorwi. – Masvingo Mirror