Woman 'burns' kids, blames goblins

IN a suspected act of witchcraft, three siblings from Gokwe died in an inferno when a bedroom hut they were sleeping in was mysteriously razed by a fire just moments after their mother ran away from home following what she claimed to have been an attack by goblins.

The incident occurred last week when the three Sibanda siblings Takudzwa (10), Tafara (2) and Ruvarashe (2) from Dumba village under Chief Chireya were burnt beyond recognition while they were sleeping in the bedroom hut.

On the fateful day, the three children's mother, Ms Loveness Mupambe, claimed she saw strange creatures that were similar to human beings. The creatures, she said, assaulted her during the night.

"I lit some firewood trying to scare away the goblins that were terrorising me. I was being slapped and punched by things that I didn't see. I later saw human-like creatures but very short in height. These things started making noise at the house and I fled to my brother-in-law to get help after the fire failed to scare them away.

"When I came back in the company of my brother-in-law, we found the hut engulfed in fire with the children trapped inside. I suspect that the goblins could have torched the house while I had gone to my brother-in-law's homestead," said Ms Mupambe.

When the two returned, they found the house engulfed in fire and the children were burnt to ashes and they reported the matter to the police.

Ms Mupambe was on Wednesday arraigned before Gokwe-Kwekwe regional magistrate Mr Amos Mbobo facing three counts of culpable homicide.

Mr Mbobo ordered Ms Mupambe to undergo psychiatric examination and postponed the matter to 29 September.

The State's case was that Ms Mupambe acted negligently when she lit firewood to scare away the "goblins" before fleeing away leaving the children behind.

The court heard that on the said date, Ms Mupambe lit firewood and left it in the house where the three children were sleeping resulting in the hut being burnt down.

In her defence, the visibly traumatised Ms Mupambe told the court that the goblins had set the house ablaze while she sought help from her brother-in-law.

Mr Robert Ndlala appeared for the State.