News / National
Man sets on fire cabin with sleeping wife, baby
31 Aug 2018 at 06:33hrs | Views
PROPERTY worth thousands of dollars was recently destroyed when a jealous Odzi man set alight a wooden cabin where his wife and baby were sleeping.
The wife, Abigail Kamwendo (30) and her eight-year-old baby escaped death by a whisker after neighbours alerted her of the fire.
Jeremiah Sithole (26) was immediately arrested and has since been hauled before the courts facing multiple counts of physical abuse.
He appeared before Mutare magistrate Mr Tendai Mahwe on Monday and was remanded to September 3. He denied the charges.
Allegations were that on August 17, Sithole suspected that Kamwendo was cheating on him and he assaulted her. Later at night after she had gone to sleep, he set alight their one-roomed wooden cabin where his wife and baby were sleeping.
Property that included clothes, blankets, bed, room divider, television set, and wardrobe was destroyed by the fire.
Nothing was recovered.
When The Weekender visited the home, Kamwendo had since moved to stay in a nearby cabin which she is now renting.
Neighbours and well-wishers chipped in an provided her with food and clothes.
In an interview, Kamwendo did not blame her husband for burning the cabin but squarely placed the blame on evil spirits which she said wanted her dead.
"The neighbours reported him to the police, I did not because I knew it wasn't him who started the fire. Of course we had a misunderstanding over extra marital affairs but I know for sure that my husband did not burn the cabin," she said.
Kamwendo said the evil spirits did not want to see her get married.
"This fire was mysterious and no one believes me," she said.
A neighbour who requested anonymity rubbished Kamwendo's claims.
"She is now trying to protect her husband because she cannot look after her child alone, but he tried to kill her and the baby while they were asleep. How can someone be possessed when he did it knowingly? This is the third cabin he has burnt down because he is very jealousy. If that man is not arrested and jailed something nasty will surely happen," said the neighbour.
The wife, Abigail Kamwendo (30) and her eight-year-old baby escaped death by a whisker after neighbours alerted her of the fire.
Jeremiah Sithole (26) was immediately arrested and has since been hauled before the courts facing multiple counts of physical abuse.
He appeared before Mutare magistrate Mr Tendai Mahwe on Monday and was remanded to September 3. He denied the charges.
Allegations were that on August 17, Sithole suspected that Kamwendo was cheating on him and he assaulted her. Later at night after she had gone to sleep, he set alight their one-roomed wooden cabin where his wife and baby were sleeping.
Property that included clothes, blankets, bed, room divider, television set, and wardrobe was destroyed by the fire.
Nothing was recovered.
Neighbours and well-wishers chipped in an provided her with food and clothes.
In an interview, Kamwendo did not blame her husband for burning the cabin but squarely placed the blame on evil spirits which she said wanted her dead.
"The neighbours reported him to the police, I did not because I knew it wasn't him who started the fire. Of course we had a misunderstanding over extra marital affairs but I know for sure that my husband did not burn the cabin," she said.
Kamwendo said the evil spirits did not want to see her get married.
"This fire was mysterious and no one believes me," she said.
A neighbour who requested anonymity rubbished Kamwendo's claims.
"She is now trying to protect her husband because she cannot look after her child alone, but he tried to kill her and the baby while they were asleep. How can someone be possessed when he did it knowingly? This is the third cabin he has burnt down because he is very jealousy. If that man is not arrested and jailed something nasty will surely happen," said the neighbour.
Source - manicapost
