A 25-year-old Epworth woman will rue the day she accused her three neighbours of practising witchcraft after she was slapped with a 20-month jail term for failing to prove her accusations.
BY SENIOR COURT REPORTER
Maidei Muparira, who is married with three children, pleaded guilty to the charge of indicating witches and wizards when she appeared before Harare magistrate Lazarus Murendo last week.
The court heard that sometime this year, Muparira accused Martson Hove (41), Munyanira Tsvakai (62) and Christine Gondwa (58) of having killed a man identified only as Muzambia, cooked and ate his flesh.
In passing sentence, Murendo said: “She imputed to the complainants the use of non-natural means in causing the death of a person and she went beyond this and accused them of cooking the flesh of the deceased person and eating it.
“Their reputation in the community is tarnished and their relationship with other members of the public greatly affected. They are now regarded as fearsome people whose paths should never be crossed unless one wants to become a victim of their practice.”
The court heard that on September 29 this year, while Hove was in Mberengwa, he received a call from his sister, Senzeni Hove advising him that rumours had spread that he was a wizard, acting in cahoots with Tsvakai and Gondwa.
This was after Muparira confided to Nyaradzai Sipone and Joyce Kalumo that the trio had bewitched their uncle and caused his death.
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The matter was reported to police, leading to Muparira’s arrest.
