News / National
Woman in court for killing a python
15 Mar 2014 at 09:09hrs | Views
An elderly woman from Chiwodza Village 33 in Mvuma was dragged to a traditional court and made to pay a beast as fine for killing a python which, according to locals, was the guardian of water at a local stream.
Mai Musaendapo from Chief Chirumanzu's area reportedly killed a sacred reptile sometime last year before the rain season and thereafter, water in Huswawuware stream dried up.
It is said that Mr Musaendapo was at the horticulture gardens which are watered using water from the stream with her grandchildren who saw a python and alerted her. She reportedly ordered her grandchild, a Form Two student at a local secondary school, to give her a knife which she used to kill the snake.
After killing the revered snake, she allegedly dragged it for more than a kilometre before burning it on top of her niece's grave. The villagers suspected the elderly woman burnth the snake for ritual purposes.
Village head Lambert Maseka said the killing of the python shocked the community because it had been responsible for preserving water at the stream and lived there for as long as locals could remember.
"After Mai Musaendapo killed the python, the ancestors of our land got angry and the stream dried up. As a community we have always known that there is a python which is the guardian of our water at the stream and we felt equally offended. We took her to Chief Chirumhanzu's traditional court where she admitted to angering our gods and was made to pay a beast," said Headman Maseka.
He said the beast would be slaughtered at the Chief's homestead after the rain season and a ritual to appease the gods would be performed.
Mai Musaendapo from Chief Chirumanzu's area reportedly killed a sacred reptile sometime last year before the rain season and thereafter, water in Huswawuware stream dried up.
It is said that Mr Musaendapo was at the horticulture gardens which are watered using water from the stream with her grandchildren who saw a python and alerted her. She reportedly ordered her grandchild, a Form Two student at a local secondary school, to give her a knife which she used to kill the snake.
Village head Lambert Maseka said the killing of the python shocked the community because it had been responsible for preserving water at the stream and lived there for as long as locals could remember.
"After Mai Musaendapo killed the python, the ancestors of our land got angry and the stream dried up. As a community we have always known that there is a python which is the guardian of our water at the stream and we felt equally offended. We took her to Chief Chirumhanzu's traditional court where she admitted to angering our gods and was made to pay a beast," said Headman Maseka.
He said the beast would be slaughtered at the Chief's homestead after the rain season and a ritual to appease the gods would be performed.
Source - online
