News / Local
Brother kill brother in fight over house
20 Apr 2014 at 08:50hrs | Views
TONGOONA is Shona for "we will just wait and see", while tragedy means an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress.
But these are not just words for a Bulawayo family with siblings named Tongoona and Tragedy as they had to watch in distress when tragedy visited the family after the firstborn was fatally struck with a hoe by his younger brother.
Eddington Muchayiri (39) died after being hit on the head with a hoe by his younger brother Tongoona (37) following an argument over the ownership of their late parents' home in Entumbane.
Cossor, the youngest in the family, says if his sister, Tragedy (32), had not come home that day, tragedy would not have struck.
On 4 April, the day of the alleged attack, Cossor says his sister came home and began arguing with Eddington, who was living in the family home. Tragedy and Tongoona are said to have had a war of words with the deceased which resulted in him being attacked with a hoe on the head before he died two days later.
"If Tragedy had not come home that day, Eddington would have been alive today. There was never going to be a fight," he said.
The story of the Muchayiri family reads like that of a sad movie script. One of their aunts died in a horrific car accident on her way to Eddington's burial in Buhera, Manicaland province. It was indeed a double tragedy.
According to Cossor, after Tongoona attacked his brother with a hoe, he fled the scene and was nowhere to be found. On learning that his brother whom he left battling for dear life had eventually died, Tongoona decided to call his sister.
"I hear Tongoona phoned Tragedy saying he was looking for some money to assist during the funeral," Cossor said.
However, Tongoona did not pitch up with the said money, only to be arrested by police who found him in the rural areas of Ntabazinduna.
He appeared at Western Commonage courts last week on a murder charge and was remanded to 28 April.
The death of Eddington sent shock waves across Entumbane as people were trying to understand why so much hatred could exist within a family.
The wife to the deceased, Ms Tryphine Mthunzi, said she was deeply hurt by the death of her husband and even more hurt by the fact that she failed to attend his burial in Buhera.
"I did not go to Buhera because I was not formally married to Eddington. My family asked the Muchayiris to first pay a bit of some bride price so that I could be released for the burial but they failed to do so, so I did not go," said Ms Mthunzi.
She said she was extremely hurt by the fact that the Muchayiris had failed to come and negotiate with her family so that she could be released for her husband's funeral.
"I heard that Tongoona phoned Tragedy saying he had US$100 that he wanted to give her to assist with funeral arrangements. He did not show up with the said money until they arrested him," she said.
Another sad development is that Eddington died without securing birth certificates for his two infant children. Ms Mthunzi said the children aged four and two had no birth certificates because she owed Mpilo Central Hospital $270.
"When I delivered my first born, I was left with a debt of US$270 so Mpilo Hospital is holding on to the birth record such that I cannot go and get a birth certificate. The second child also does not have a birth certificate as I do not have an identity card," she explained.
Although she has failed to get identity documents for her children, her name, Tryphine, is derived from a legendary Breton saint who is widely revered as a patron saint of sick children and those whose birth is overdue.
A tenant at the Muchayiri family home said she was still failing to come to terms with Eddington's death.
"When this happened I was away so it is still hard for me to come to terms with it. I feel empty without him here. He was such a pleasant person who was always there for us. I feel like he has just visited elsewhere and he will be back. It's sad that brothers turn against each other," she said.
Cossor said life would now be a struggle as the man he looked up to as a brother was no more.
"Eddington was the father figure I was looking up to as we are orphans, but now he is gone. I do not know where to turn to," he said.
He has not made any contact with his sister since their brother's burial.
"I think it is better it remains like this because she cannot give me answers for the questions that I have," he said.
But these are not just words for a Bulawayo family with siblings named Tongoona and Tragedy as they had to watch in distress when tragedy visited the family after the firstborn was fatally struck with a hoe by his younger brother.
Eddington Muchayiri (39) died after being hit on the head with a hoe by his younger brother Tongoona (37) following an argument over the ownership of their late parents' home in Entumbane.
Cossor, the youngest in the family, says if his sister, Tragedy (32), had not come home that day, tragedy would not have struck.
On 4 April, the day of the alleged attack, Cossor says his sister came home and began arguing with Eddington, who was living in the family home. Tragedy and Tongoona are said to have had a war of words with the deceased which resulted in him being attacked with a hoe on the head before he died two days later.
"If Tragedy had not come home that day, Eddington would have been alive today. There was never going to be a fight," he said.
The story of the Muchayiri family reads like that of a sad movie script. One of their aunts died in a horrific car accident on her way to Eddington's burial in Buhera, Manicaland province. It was indeed a double tragedy.
According to Cossor, after Tongoona attacked his brother with a hoe, he fled the scene and was nowhere to be found. On learning that his brother whom he left battling for dear life had eventually died, Tongoona decided to call his sister.
"I hear Tongoona phoned Tragedy saying he was looking for some money to assist during the funeral," Cossor said.
However, Tongoona did not pitch up with the said money, only to be arrested by police who found him in the rural areas of Ntabazinduna.
He appeared at Western Commonage courts last week on a murder charge and was remanded to 28 April.
The death of Eddington sent shock waves across Entumbane as people were trying to understand why so much hatred could exist within a family.
"I did not go to Buhera because I was not formally married to Eddington. My family asked the Muchayiris to first pay a bit of some bride price so that I could be released for the burial but they failed to do so, so I did not go," said Ms Mthunzi.
She said she was extremely hurt by the fact that the Muchayiris had failed to come and negotiate with her family so that she could be released for her husband's funeral.
"I heard that Tongoona phoned Tragedy saying he had US$100 that he wanted to give her to assist with funeral arrangements. He did not show up with the said money until they arrested him," she said.
Another sad development is that Eddington died without securing birth certificates for his two infant children. Ms Mthunzi said the children aged four and two had no birth certificates because she owed Mpilo Central Hospital $270.
"When I delivered my first born, I was left with a debt of US$270 so Mpilo Hospital is holding on to the birth record such that I cannot go and get a birth certificate. The second child also does not have a birth certificate as I do not have an identity card," she explained.
Although she has failed to get identity documents for her children, her name, Tryphine, is derived from a legendary Breton saint who is widely revered as a patron saint of sick children and those whose birth is overdue.
A tenant at the Muchayiri family home said she was still failing to come to terms with Eddington's death.
"When this happened I was away so it is still hard for me to come to terms with it. I feel empty without him here. He was such a pleasant person who was always there for us. I feel like he has just visited elsewhere and he will be back. It's sad that brothers turn against each other," she said.
Cossor said life would now be a struggle as the man he looked up to as a brother was no more.
"Eddington was the father figure I was looking up to as we are orphans, but now he is gone. I do not know where to turn to," he said.
He has not made any contact with his sister since their brother's burial.
"I think it is better it remains like this because she cannot give me answers for the questions that I have," he said.
Source - Sunday News
