News / Regional
Family abandons daughter's burial over lobola
15 Jul 2013 at 14:29hrs | Views
A GWANDA family from Makwe area abandoned the burial of its daughter demanding $2 000 from its son-in-law.
Mr Winter Ndebele of Lushongwe area in Gwanda district faced complications in burying his wife, Ms Sithandazile Moyo (38) after his in-laws allegedly demanded the $2 000 which had been incurred in the funeral expenses.
The incident happened on Friday.
Ms Moyo died in Bulawayo last week when she succumbed to hypertension and was eight months pregnant.
Mr Ndebele told Chronicle that his in-laws deliberately stalled the burial of his wife wanting payment first.
"My father-in-law had said we could not bury my wife before I made a payment of $2 000 being expenses his family incurred since the death of my wife. I don't know where they expected me to get such money within a short space of time. I don't have that kind of money," he said.
Mr Ndebele said he and fellow villagers had a torrid time the whole day of Friday as they tried by all means to reason with his in-laws to proceed with the burial even before the payment was made.
He said he had not been in good books with his in-laws in the past 10 years despite that he had two children with their daughter.
"We even sent some village elders to try and talk to my in-laws but all our efforts were in vain. We ended up seeking authority to proceed with the burial from the police after seeing that negotiations with my in-laws had failed," said Mr Ndebele.
He said the burial, which was expected to take place in the morning ended up taking place in the evening.
His in-laws did not attend.
"My in-laws said I should take back the body to the mortuary in Bulawayo as I had failed to pay them. However, we ended up taking the matter to the police as it was impossible to take the body back to Bulawayo. The police then gave us the go ahead to bury my wife," said Mr Ndebele.
Lushongwe East village head Mr Max Dube said villagers spent the whole day waiting for the two families to reach an agreement.
"We tried to talk to the in-laws but nothing came up. This whole issue ihlukuluze izakhamizi njalo into ezinje zicina zihlukuluza lomufi okumele aphunyuzwe (Such issues are a problem to the community and a dishonour to the deceased who should be laid to rest)," he said.
Contacted for a comment, Mr Ndebele's father-in-law, Mr Ronald Moyo could neither confirm nor deny that he had demanded $2 000 as payment for burying his daughter, but only said his policy had taken care of all the expenses.
"I am not aware that my daughter was married because I have never seen the so called husband," he said.
When asked why he did not attend his daughter's burial, Mr Moyo said it was his choice to attend or not.
"Am I forced to do that?" he asked.
Mr Winter Ndebele of Lushongwe area in Gwanda district faced complications in burying his wife, Ms Sithandazile Moyo (38) after his in-laws allegedly demanded the $2 000 which had been incurred in the funeral expenses.
The incident happened on Friday.
Ms Moyo died in Bulawayo last week when she succumbed to hypertension and was eight months pregnant.
Mr Ndebele told Chronicle that his in-laws deliberately stalled the burial of his wife wanting payment first.
"My father-in-law had said we could not bury my wife before I made a payment of $2 000 being expenses his family incurred since the death of my wife. I don't know where they expected me to get such money within a short space of time. I don't have that kind of money," he said.
Mr Ndebele said he and fellow villagers had a torrid time the whole day of Friday as they tried by all means to reason with his in-laws to proceed with the burial even before the payment was made.
He said he had not been in good books with his in-laws in the past 10 years despite that he had two children with their daughter.
"We even sent some village elders to try and talk to my in-laws but all our efforts were in vain. We ended up seeking authority to proceed with the burial from the police after seeing that negotiations with my in-laws had failed," said Mr Ndebele.
He said the burial, which was expected to take place in the morning ended up taking place in the evening.
His in-laws did not attend.
"My in-laws said I should take back the body to the mortuary in Bulawayo as I had failed to pay them. However, we ended up taking the matter to the police as it was impossible to take the body back to Bulawayo. The police then gave us the go ahead to bury my wife," said Mr Ndebele.
Lushongwe East village head Mr Max Dube said villagers spent the whole day waiting for the two families to reach an agreement.
"We tried to talk to the in-laws but nothing came up. This whole issue ihlukuluze izakhamizi njalo into ezinje zicina zihlukuluza lomufi okumele aphunyuzwe (Such issues are a problem to the community and a dishonour to the deceased who should be laid to rest)," he said.
Contacted for a comment, Mr Ndebele's father-in-law, Mr Ronald Moyo could neither confirm nor deny that he had demanded $2 000 as payment for burying his daughter, but only said his policy had taken care of all the expenses.
"I am not aware that my daughter was married because I have never seen the so called husband," he said.
When asked why he did not attend his daughter's burial, Mr Moyo said it was his choice to attend or not.
"Am I forced to do that?" he asked.
Source - chronicle
