Ghost spills the beans
. . . reveals dad’s 3-year secret
WHEN death visits us, a final resting place is supposed to be found.
However, it is a different story for a Mutasa teenager (17) who died and was buried three years ago as his final resting place was not so final after all.
Many religions discourage disturbing the dead, while many horror movies and macabre books are inspired by it, but when a family is haunted by the spirit of the dead demanding a decent burial, there is no option, but to succumb to the wish of the dead and exhume the body.
But digging up bones remains taboo, in part because many religions forbid the practice lest it disturb the afterlife. Certain native American tribes believe moving a person’s remains can unsettle their spirit.
Rabbis rarely approve the disinterment of Jews, with rare exceptions for things like reburial in Israel. Islam discourages opening, handling, or reusing graves until there are no traces of the original corpse left and many Christians believe if someone’s body is disturbed or destroyed, they cannot be resurrected.
Having endured untold suffering at the hands of the spirit of their late son who was reported to have committed suicide and buried as an outcast, the Nyamunokoras of Mutasa were forced to exhume Joel’s body last Saturday, three years after his death.
His remains were still intact as well as his clothes that were also placed in the grave. The body was also odourless, while the coffin had no blood stains or body fluids.
According to Joel’s mother, Marian Chitembwe, the late teenager complained that they had buried him ‘like a dog’ and on the outskirts of the cemetery.
According to Chitembwe, Joel’s ghost terrorised the family from the day of his burial, claiming that he did not commit suicide like what his father wanted the world to believe.
Joel claimed that he was murdered by his father, Gilbert Nyamunokora on December 9, 2017, but faked suicide to conceal the ghastly murder.
For three years, Joel demanded the exhumation of his remains and have a decent reburial in the community cemetery.
Acting Chief Mutasa and Mutasa District Coordinator, Tendai Kapenzi okayed the exhumation which was done last Saturday.
When The Weekender visited the Nyamunokora homestead last Saturday, villagers and relatives were busy exhuming Joel’s body.
Information obtained by The Weekender showed that Joel was buried hours after his demise as his father claimed that he had committed suicide.
Chitembwe and her daughter, Melody Nyamunokora, confirmed being ‘visited’ by Joel’s ghost complaining that he was not happy with the place of his burial.
Chitembwe explained that on the day of Joel’s death, her husband, Gilbert Nyamunokora, had struck him with an unknown object resulting in him falling on the ground. He died three hours later.
“He was struck by his father while he was standing near the place we use to wash our dishes. When the ghost comes, it bangs plates on the stand and throws them on the ground making scary noises. At times the ghost opens the cattle kraal and leads the cattle into people’s fields. This happens at night. The ghost also comes as a fire which burns the trees until morning,” cried the woman as she sat next to her late son’s remains which had been placed in a new coffin.
To date, four of the Nyamunokora’s cattle and several goats were hit by vehicles and died on the spot after the gate was mysteriously opened at night.
She further explained that Joel was haunting them in the form of an unexplainable fire that terrorise cattle and wash dirty plates at night.
“Ever since Joel’s burial, he has been coming to my dreams begging that I become his mouthpiece and tell the world that he did not kill himself. He was not happy with his burial place. At one time, he accused me of being an accomplice in his demise,” said the grieving mother.
She added: “I had no hand in his death. We never saw the object that my husband used to commit the offence, but Joel kept telling us that his father had killed him. After being attacked by his father, he complained of pain on the right side of the neck.
“We took him to Bonda Mission Hospital where he died at 9pm. Blood gushed from his nose into the coffin. The blood was also dripping from the coffin when we went to bury him and I had to clean it the next day. However, everyone was shocked to discover that there were no blood stains or body fluids in Joel’s coffin when he was exhumed.”
Chitembwe also claimed that the fire at times attacks her husband who usually leaves for work early in the morning.
“After I told him that Joel was appearing to me, Gilbert said the dead should stay with the dead. He never took the issue seriously. He murdered my son and should be held accountable for his sins,” she cried.
Gilbert Nyamunokora, however, denied being attacked by the so-called fire and ever coming face-to-face with the ghost. He told The Weekender that he was not aware of the reasons behind the exhumation of his son’s remains.
He also claimed that Joel succumbed to the poison he had consumed.
“I do not know why Joel’s remains were exhumed. I never killed my son. He took poison because he had left our cattle to stray into neighbours’ fields. I beat him up and he later took poison. They are yet to inform me why they exhumed his remains. My wife is just angry because I castigated her for selling our piece of land without my knowledge,” he said.
He also rubbished claims that Joel’s avenging spirit was behind the mysterious happenings at the homestead.
The couple’s daughter, Melody, confirmed seeing her father striking Joel on the fateful day.
“Before he died, Joel kept saying that our father had killed him. He is now coming in my dreams asking me why I never told the truth. Our father is stopping us from revealing the truth. He still stands by his word that Joel committed suicide, which is a lie,” said an inconsolable Melody.
According to the Mutasa tradition, victims of suicide are buried on the outskirts of the community cemetery, a reason why Joel’s grave used to cut a lone figure in the bushes near the cemetery.
Village head, Never Nyamunokora attested to this.
He said suicide victims are also buried with all their possessions to ensure that no one inherits the suicide spirit.
“As you saw today, the boy was buried with all his clothes and outside the cemetery because we thought he had committed suicide.
Had we known that it was otherwise, the body would have been buried in the cemetery,” said Village head Nyamunokora.
Joel’s corpse was later taken to his parents’ homestead for a overnight funeral wake.
He was buried the following day inside the cemetery.