News / Regional
Murdered boy's family demands 10 beasts
30 Jun 2015 at 14:12hrs | Views
A NYAMANDLOVU family whose four-year-old son was allegedly murdered last Monday by three neighbours aged seven and eight years, is demanding 10 head of cattle and $340 from the boys' families as compensation.
Ashley Nhlanhla Malinga, who was a Grade Zero pupil, died when the three boys allegedly assaulted him using sticks after accusing him of assaulting one of the boys' sister. The boy was buried on Sunday at West Park Cemetery in Bulawayo.
Ashley and the girl he allegedly assaulted were both in Grade Zero.
Ashley's aunt, Sikhangele Mnkandla, said they are still in shock following the death of her nephew. She said as a family, they wanted to be compensated even though that would not bring back their son.
"We know it won't bring back our son but we agreed as a family that they should pay the $120 we spent on busfares and the $220 that was spent on food and other expenses. We also want one beast for the traditional cleansing of the deceased's mother and three beasts from each of the three families," said Mnkandla.
She said only the cleansing beast could be exchanged for money at a value of $500 while the other nine should be live beasts.
"It's sad because they still have their sons but we lost ours. We only asked them to meet the funeral expenses hence we aren't asking for a lot of money," said Mnkandla.
The headman, Jealous Ncube Tshakalisa, said tensions were high at the burial of the boy at West Park Cemetery which was also attended by family members of the three boys who allegedly killed Ashley. He said he had to play peacemaker to allow proceedings to take place.
"There were heated arguments among the families at the cemetery. The bereaved family was trying to make the lives of the three families difficult. I'm glad that at the end of the day, the boy was finally laid to rest.
"This is one of the most difficult cases I've ever witnessed in my entire life. The bereaved family attended the burial as mere mourners. They refused to take charge of the funeral, which is awkward and sad. The friction started in Nyamandlovu when members of the now deceased boy arrived and declared that they won't have anything to do with the funeral. They said their son was alive. The three families of the boys who allegedly committed the murder ended up taking charge of the burial," said headman Tshakalisa.
Ashley Nhlanhla Malinga, who was a Grade Zero pupil, died when the three boys allegedly assaulted him using sticks after accusing him of assaulting one of the boys' sister. The boy was buried on Sunday at West Park Cemetery in Bulawayo.
Ashley and the girl he allegedly assaulted were both in Grade Zero.
Ashley's aunt, Sikhangele Mnkandla, said they are still in shock following the death of her nephew. She said as a family, they wanted to be compensated even though that would not bring back their son.
"We know it won't bring back our son but we agreed as a family that they should pay the $120 we spent on busfares and the $220 that was spent on food and other expenses. We also want one beast for the traditional cleansing of the deceased's mother and three beasts from each of the three families," said Mnkandla.
She said only the cleansing beast could be exchanged for money at a value of $500 while the other nine should be live beasts.
"It's sad because they still have their sons but we lost ours. We only asked them to meet the funeral expenses hence we aren't asking for a lot of money," said Mnkandla.
The headman, Jealous Ncube Tshakalisa, said tensions were high at the burial of the boy at West Park Cemetery which was also attended by family members of the three boys who allegedly killed Ashley. He said he had to play peacemaker to allow proceedings to take place.
"There were heated arguments among the families at the cemetery. The bereaved family was trying to make the lives of the three families difficult. I'm glad that at the end of the day, the boy was finally laid to rest.
"This is one of the most difficult cases I've ever witnessed in my entire life. The bereaved family attended the burial as mere mourners. They refused to take charge of the funeral, which is awkward and sad. The friction started in Nyamandlovu when members of the now deceased boy arrived and declared that they won't have anything to do with the funeral. They said their son was alive. The three families of the boys who allegedly committed the murder ended up taking charge of the burial," said headman Tshakalisa.
Source - chronicle
