. . . DNA tests expose mother
AMAKONI villager who was wrongly accusing a fellow villager of being the biological father of her child was left with egg in her face after the child refused to breastfeed, while DNA tests also exonerated the man as the father of the child.
Tinanshe Bhunu’s child flatly refused to breastfeed at home, but surprisingly would only do so in the presence of nurses at Rusape General Hospital. This baffled the alleged father, Steven Zendera, who already had doubts of having fathered the child.
Zendera took the child for DNA tests alone, amid fierce resistance from Tinanshe and her relatives.
The DNA tests revealed that Zendera was not the biological father of the child.
This was revealed at Chief Makoni’s community court where Tinashe’s father, Edmore Bhunu had yanked Zendera to the court, demanding lobola for her daughter.
Bhunu wanted two beasts and money from Zendera who had only paid a goat towards masungiro.
“Zendera impregnated my daughter and only paid one goat for masungiro. Efforts to make him pay the remainder is not yielding any results,” Bhunu told the court.
In response, Zendera said it is Bhunu who should repay him for all the expenses he incurred while taking care of Tinashe and her child as he is not the child’s biological father.
He presented the DNA results to the court.
“I dated Tinashe for sometime. When I was with her in her room, some men would come and knock at the door, intending to see her.
“After sometime, she told me that she was carrying my child. When she gave birth there was a mismatch on the month she was supposed to deliver.
“People in the village informed me that the child is not mine as Tinashe had other boyfriends besides me. We returned home from the hospital and the baby flatly refused to breastfeed.
“We had to return to the hospital where surprisingly the baby would breastfeed in the presence of nurses. When we returned home, the baby refused to breastfeed again.
“I left home for work and every month would send around US$90 for Tinashe and the baby’s upkeep. I later suggested to Tinashe and her relatives that we should conduct DNA tests, but they refused to cooperate.
“I took the baby for DNA test alone, and it was revealed that I am not the biological father of the child. When I informed the Bhunus, they accused me of conniving with doctors to produce fake results, yet they refused to take part in the process,” said Zendera.
Added a distraught Zendera: “I do not owe them anything because the child is not mine. It is actually them who owe me the money I spent on the mother and the baby.”
Tinashe insisted that Zendera was her baby’s biological father, and disputed the DNA tests results, arguing that she was not present when the tests were done. She also argued that they took long to be delivered.
“Zendera is the biological father of the child. The DNA tests were conducted in my absence. The results which were supposed to come out within weeks took months to be delivered.
“I never slept with any other person except him,” she boldly declared.
After some deliberations, the court adjourned and asked the Bhunu delegation to interrogate Tinashe on the actual author of the pregnancy.
When the court resumed, Tinashe’s father announced that she had revealed that another man who slept with her during the same time with Zendera was the baby’s actual father.
In its ruling, the community court said Zendera should not pay anything towards Tinashe’s lobola because he had produced proof that he was not the biological father of the child.
The court also ruled that Zendera could not claim anything back from Bhunu because he also slept with his daughter.