Undies disappear from washing line
TWO neighbouring villagers from Makoni are no longer seeing eye-to-eye following the disappearance of an undergarment from the washing line, which triggered a series of accusations and counter accusations of sorcery between the two protagonists.
This came out at Chief Makoni’s community court recently where Everlight Chingwera had dragged her neighbour, Joice Mutandwa, accusing her of labelling her a witch following the disappearance of her undergarment from the washing line.
Mutandwa hit back arguing that on the day the undergarment allegedly vanished from the washing line, Chingwera and other villagers had insinuated that she should now die since her children were now majors.
“I passed through Mutandwa’s homestead on my way home from a funeral. I wanted her to transfer some movies from her phone into mine, and also collect some money from her since I am the treasure of our local burial society. I did that and left her homestead.
“When I got home she called me, asking if I had seen her undergarment that was on the washing line. I told her I had not seen it. Days later, I met her and inquired what she meant when she called asking me about her undergarment. She brushed me off saying people wanted to fix her out of jealousy of her lifestyle.
“I informed my brother about the incident, and he advised me to report the matter to the village head. We agreed on an out of court settlement. She begged for forgiveness, saying she was wrong in accusing me, but still I refused to accept the apology because she insisted that the undergarment was still missing.
“When she was served summons to appear before this court, she came to my house crying, begging me to drop the case against her. She wanted us to negotiate privately. By claiming that I stole her undergarment, Mutandwa was accusing me of witchcraft,” Chingwera told the court.
In her response, Mutandwa argued that she was quite sure that Chingwera took her undergarment as she had earlier “joked” with other villagers that her last born was “now old enough that she could now die.”
“I washed my three undergarments, covered them with a towel and pegged them on the washing line. I left for a funeral in the village. On my way to the funeral, I met Chingwera in the company of other women, and she said now that my children were grown-ups, I could now die as I was now useless.
“It pained me so much that I demanded to know why she was uttering such words, but she remained silent. After the funeral, she passed through my homestead to have some movies and collect the US$6 burial society fee. On leaving, she did not use the way she had used. Instead, she used the way that passes through the washing line.
“Before she reached her homestead, I noticed that one of my undergarment was missing from the washing line. I asked her, but she said she had not seen it.
“The manner in which she responded leaves a lot to be desired. Her response was jittery and incoherent. She was unstable. She later returned after a week to enquire why I had questioned her about the missing undergarment. I told her that she should have challenged me on the very day I had asked her about it.
“After two weeks her husband came to my homestead, pleading with me to have dialogue with her, but she refused, saying we should consult at least three traditional healers or prophets. Despite it being her suggestion, she became jittery and evasive when we gave nod to it.
“I am in pain over the disappearance of my undergarment, and I have since lost considerable weight over the issue. An undergarment is not an ordinary cloth, but something that is very treasured,” said Mutandwa.
Chief Makoni referred the feuding neighbours to the community court’s resident traditional healer, who alleged that Chingwera indeed took the undergarment as she is possessed by some evil spirits.
However, her delegation disputed the traditional healer’s claims, and the court ordered them to go for second round consultations with a different traditional healer on a date to be announced.