News / National
Woman sues former tenant over burial rituals
13 Jul 2013 at 03:17hrs | Views
A Harare woman on Friday sued her former tenant over money she owed for performing burial rites to her dead child.
Rudo Taruona told the court that she needed to be paid for closing and stretching limbs of Lizy Samuel's dead child. Taruona insisted that Samuel's mother engaged her to perform the rituals and this comes with a fee.
"In our Shona culture, the midwife is paid, a family friend is also paid. Why not pay me for touching their corpse?
"Her mother asked me to close her grandchild's eyes and stretch the limbs because the rituals should be done immediately. Samuel has since moved out of my house and I don't know where her mother resides that is why I brought her to court today," she said.
In her response Samuel told the court that indeed her child died while she was a tenant at Taruona's house.
"When she heard me crying she came to my room to inquire what had transpired. Upon realising that my child had died she then asked why the child's eyes were still open and I told her that I don't know much of burial rituals.
"I was mourning at this time and I remember Taruona getting into the room where my child was," she said.
Samuel denied agreeing to pay Taruona.
Magistrate Ms Vongai Muchuchuti dismissed Taruona's claim and advised her to institute proceeding against Samuel's mother because she is the one who engaged her.
Rudo Taruona told the court that she needed to be paid for closing and stretching limbs of Lizy Samuel's dead child. Taruona insisted that Samuel's mother engaged her to perform the rituals and this comes with a fee.
"In our Shona culture, the midwife is paid, a family friend is also paid. Why not pay me for touching their corpse?
"Her mother asked me to close her grandchild's eyes and stretch the limbs because the rituals should be done immediately. Samuel has since moved out of my house and I don't know where her mother resides that is why I brought her to court today," she said.
In her response Samuel told the court that indeed her child died while she was a tenant at Taruona's house.
"When she heard me crying she came to my room to inquire what had transpired. Upon realising that my child had died she then asked why the child's eyes were still open and I told her that I don't know much of burial rituals.
"I was mourning at this time and I remember Taruona getting into the room where my child was," she said.
Samuel denied agreeing to pay Taruona.
Magistrate Ms Vongai Muchuchuti dismissed Taruona's claim and advised her to institute proceeding against Samuel's mother because she is the one who engaged her.
Source - Herald
