Woman, 4 kids cheat death

THE battle to stay put at her in-laws residence even after being formally divorced is getting uglier for a Chishakwe woman and nearly cost her dearly after she escaped death together with her four children when the house they were sleeping in was allegedly set on fire by her estranged husband.

Memory Machikiti of Chishakwe Village under Headman Chihwandamudanda, who was married to Harry Chabururuka in the remote parts of Mutare South, is counting herself and her four kids lucky to be alive after the house they were sleeping in was recently set ablaze around midnight.

Machikiti is said to have been formally divorced with a token of divorce already handed over to her parents but for more than a year now, she is refusing to vacate the Chabururuka homestead.

Apparently, the house she is refusing to vacate lies in the environs of the Chabururuka homestead, just a stone's throw away from the main family house.

When The Weekender visited the area, Machikiti narrated how they escaped the gruesome attack. She said she now has nowhere to go with the four children.

"We were asleep and it was almost midnight when a funny smell engulfed the house we were sleeping in. I quickly woke up and soon discovered that the house was on fire.

"I hurriedly took the children outside, one by one and they were all asleep. It was not long before asbestos started bursting up in fire while the roof collapsed. We could not get anything outside and our bed, two sofas, food stuffs and important documents were all reduced to ashes. We sustained some minor injuries.

"I strongly suspect that my former husband's family has something to do with it. It could be the former husband himself who was bent on chasing us away from their family homestead. I will not move from that homestead because I have nowhere to go with his children. After all, I do not want to be separated from my children," she said.

The eldest of them all, Nigel (13), echoed his mother's sentiments saying their mother had a torrid time to get them out of the collapsing structure.

"We were sleeping and it was on a Monday when we were dragged out of the house. It was around midnight when it happened we never got to see who caused the fire. In fact, I only realised what was happening when we were outside," he said.

Nigel said his father was nowhere to be seen soon after the midnight attack.

"He is not sleeping with us here for a long time but he was at grandfather's family main house. However, he was nowhere to be seen soon after the midnight attack," added Nigel, who was flanked by his minor siblings Knowledge (nine), Norman (seven) and Munyaradzi (two years and four months).

When The Weekender proceeded to the main family house, Harry Chabururuka's younger brother, Nyasha, was the only one present as all other relatives were so said to have gone to receive fertiliser under the Presidential Inputs Scheme.

He confirmed that Machikiti is resisting eviction after being divorced but could not divulge who caused the fire.

"I was not here when it happened. I was only told that the house they (his estranged sister-in-law and kids) were sleeping in was set on fire by an unknown assailant.

"My brother (Harry) is not here. He is in Mutare and resides in the OTS section of the suburb. I do not know the exact address.  No one at home really knows what happened because it has been long since we last visited Maiguru's place given that they have been divorced for more than a year now. The problem is that she is resisting eviction. She insists that she will die here," he said.

A local police neighbourhood watch member, Weston Makahwi, who accompanied The Weekender from Chishakwe Primary School to the Chabururuka homestead, a good 3km of undulating terrain that is impassable using a vehicle, also confirmed that they had received a number of reports of nasty clashes between Muchikiti and her estranged husband.

"This case has been dragging for a long time now. At one point, we called all the interested parties to a negotiating table, but the woman (Machikiti) refused to go back to her parents' place. Her parents even tried to convince her to come back, but she would have none of it. In fact, she ended up verbally attacking her own father.

"We were also made aware of the fact that she has long been divorced and the Chabururuka's handed over the divorce token to her parents, but she insists that she will not leave their (Chabururuka) homestead," said the police neighbourhood watch member.