Family fakes daughter's death, tricks son-in-law into paying lobola

A NYANGA couple's marriage is in the doldrums after in-laws faked their daughter's death in a bid to demand outstanding bride price dues from their broke son-in-law.

Samuel Kaharaidze (49) of Mapara Village in Mutasa is a troubled man after his second wife - Naome Madiwa (54) - and her family tricked him into paying $750 as lobola and fine for breaking their family laws.

Kaharaidze who stayed with Madiwa in Nyanga, while his first family was in Mutasa, said he took 40 days leave from work and went to Mutasa, leaving Madiwa alone sometime in December 2016.

Narrating his unsolicited ordeal to The Weekender last Thursday, Kaharaidze fumed with anger on the trick that was played on him after discovering that his wife was still alive and well.

He said he received a text message of her supposed death on January 26 this year.

"I received a text message from someone who only identified himself as Mutsekwa. The message read: 'Tiri kukuzivisai kuti mudzimai wenyu Naome Madiwa atisiya kuHauna Hospital. Huyai izvozvi kuHauna Mortuary' (We are informing you that your wife, Naome Madiwa has passed away at Hauna Hospital. Come immediately to Hauna Mortuary).

"Mutsekwa said he had witnessed my wife's death at the hospital and had been a God Samaritan to call me and break the news," he said.

Real trouble, said Kaharaidze, began when he went to his supposed 'late' wife's brothers in Honde Valley to inform them of their sister's death two days later.

He said his brothers-in-law would not hear of their sister's death and wanted money before any funeral proceedings could start.

"They said I had to pay $750 lobola with immediate effect as I had not informed them of her illness," he explained.

Kaharaidze went back to his workplace where he managed to get $450. Of that amount, he gave $350 to his in-laws and kept $100 for funeral arrangements.

"At first they refused to accept the $350, but later took it and asked me to go and look for the remaining $400," he said.

However, when he arrived at the hospital with his relatives, he was told that no person bearing his wife's particulars was ever admitted at the hospital or died there.

"We checked every corpse in the mortuary, but we could not find her. We only realised that she was alive when my friend, Ngwarirai Mandeya called her and she answered the call. The phone was on loud speaker and I recognised my wife's voice. Mandeya identified himself as her brother Daniel. He asked her on how he could see her and she told him to see their younger sister, Ethel for directions," said Kaharaidze.

He said when they got to her younger sister's residence they were not welcomed. However, a neighbour told them that Naome was alive and that she was being kept somewhere hidden.

Kaharaidze said he later went to the secret location in the company of a friend and he saw his wife, but they were chased away by her relatives.

Naome could not be reached for comment as her mobile phone went unanswered, while her brothers, Nhamo and Barnabas were unreachable at the time of going to print.