News / Regional
85-year-old woman commits suicide after son accuses her of witchcraft
27 Dec 2011 at 11:41hrs | Views
A Beitbridge East octogenarian woman committed suicide after being accused of practising witchcraft by her son (35), police confirmed.
The officer commanding police in Beitbridge district, Chief Superintendent Lawrence Chinhengo said the incident occurred on Saturday at Lukange village.
He identified the now deceased as Tshidzimbi Muleya whose lifeless body was found hanging in her bedroom hut by her 52-year-old son the following morning.
"On the fateful day, the now deceased woman's 35-year-old son who works in South Africa had just arrived home during which an altercation ensued and the two exchanged harsh words. The son accused his mother of being a witch," he said.
This reportedly did not go down well with Muleya prompting her to convene a family meeting to resolve the dispute.
"The family members then agreed that they would consult a traditional healer over the allegations the following day, but it looks like Muleya was against the idea and that angered her son prompting him to return to South Africa.
"The now deceased woman then locked herself in her bedroom hut the same night and committed suicide by hanging herself from the roof of the hut," Chief Supt Chinhengo said.
The body was discovered by one of her sons the following day and a report was made to the police. The woman's body was taken to Beitbridge District Hospital pending a postmortem.
The officer commanding police in Beitbridge district, Chief Superintendent Lawrence Chinhengo said the incident occurred on Saturday at Lukange village.
He identified the now deceased as Tshidzimbi Muleya whose lifeless body was found hanging in her bedroom hut by her 52-year-old son the following morning.
"On the fateful day, the now deceased woman's 35-year-old son who works in South Africa had just arrived home during which an altercation ensued and the two exchanged harsh words. The son accused his mother of being a witch," he said.
"The family members then agreed that they would consult a traditional healer over the allegations the following day, but it looks like Muleya was against the idea and that angered her son prompting him to return to South Africa.
"The now deceased woman then locked herself in her bedroom hut the same night and committed suicide by hanging herself from the roof of the hut," Chief Supt Chinhengo said.
The body was discovered by one of her sons the following day and a report was made to the police. The woman's body was taken to Beitbridge District Hospital pending a postmortem.
Source - chronicle
