Woman barred from attending husband's funeral

A WIDOW from Inyathi Village was barred from attending her late husband's funeral after her in-laws accused her of killing him.

Rachel Ngwenya's husband, Melfort Tshuma, allegedly fell ill and died after she abandoned him for two weeks following a misunderstanding over an unknown issue.

Ngwenya's in-laws chased her away from the funeral accusing her of stressing their son and failing to take care of him after he fell sick, leading to his death. B-Metro talked to Ruth Ngwenya, a sister to the widow who said they were barred from paying their last respects to the deceased.

"When Tshuma died my sister had returned home in Siganda. When we heard that her husband had passed away, I accompanied her so that we go and say our last goodbyes as we thought it was the right thing to do. We never had a chance to enter the gate as we were chased away like dogs by Tshuma's aunt," said Ruth.

"It seems the family believes that Tshuma died of stress which came about after Rachel decided to end their marriage. They were asking my sister why she decided to leave Tshuma and why she did not come when they told her that her husband was sick," said Ruth.

It also turned out that it was not the first time for Ruth to desert her matrimonial home.

"Every time they had problems she would pack her bags and return home in Siganda before later forgiving him. Last week we were told that Tshuma was not feeling well and my sister should come because her husband wanted to see her," said Ruth.

The uncle of the deceased, Malvin Zulu, confirmed that Rachel did not attend the funeral because of problems within the family.

"The truth is maNgwenya did not attend the funeral due to some misunderstanding between her and my family. She refused to come and see her husband, who on his death bed, wished to see her and to make matters worse she came late to the funeral. I think that's what made some members of my family angry, so she must stop spreading lies about us chasing her away", said Zulu.