Man offers daughter (15) to appease avenging spirits

A man from Zhombe area in Kwekwe district allegedly married off his minor daughter to appease an avenging spirit while another one from the same area is reportedly forcing his under-age daughter to engage in prostitution.

In the first case the man offered his 15-year-old daughter to another family to appease an avenging spirit.

The man who cannot be named to protect the identity of the minor, reportedly married off the girl to the aggrieved family after failing to raise the number of cattle the family was demanding as compensation.

This was revealed during a Kwekwe District Civil Protection Unit meeting which was also attended by village heads and headmen.

Acting District Development Coordinator, Mr Reason Machina said cases of girls being married off due to poverty or other reasons were now a cause for concern.

"We are handling a number of cases  in the district. We have a case of a man who married off his daughter who was doing Form Four in order to appease an avenging spirit.

"The district team is looking into the matter and as we speak the man has been arrested and the girl has since been taken back to her family," said Mr Machina.

During the same meeting, it also emerged that another man from the same area was in the habit of forcing his daughter to sleep with men in exchange for money.

"We are also handling another case of a man who is forcing his daughter into prostitution and being paid by the men that are sleeping with the girl.

"He is giving his daughter who is about 14 years old to men and is being paid for "the services"," said Mr Machina without giving finer details.

He said the district team was looking into the matter. Mr Machina promised to give more details after the conclusion of investigations. He urged traditional leaders to assist in fighting child abuse and early marriages.

"We are calling upon traditional leaders to take the lead in fighting such vices," he said.
Mr Machina said there are also cases of machete welding gangs invading schools demanding to see girls.

"We have cases at some schools in Zhombe and Silobela where school leavers, most  of them who are into artisanal gold mining, go to schools during lesson time armed with machetes, axes and other weapons demanding to see their girlfriends," he said.

Traditional leaders who attended the meeting promised to do their best to bring sanity into their communities.In an interview, Chief Gwesela said his court was handling some of the cases.

"We have a number of cases of children who are threatening teachers with machetes. What kind of a world are they trying to create? I have about three such cases before my court and I want to reiterate that we do not tolerate such acts.

"Teachers are now running away from this area because they are living in fear," said Chief Gwesela.
Zimbabwe Gender Commission chief executive officer Mrs Virginia Muwanigwa is on record calling for stiffer penalties for such perpetrators.

According to Msasa Project there were 62 580 victims of gender based violence (GBV) from January to November this year compared to 40 000 during the same period last year.