A suspected mentally-challenged woman from Mahusekwa in Mashonaland East province recently stunned her community after she dug up the body of her two-year-old daughter a few days after burial and kept it in her bedroom.
Fellow villagers, including close family members, confirmed the incident which occurred at Rupere village late last month, adding the woman, identified as Loveness Mahungo, claimed she wanted her husband and other relatives to view the baby’s body since they had not witnessed her burial.
“I heard about my baby’s death whilst in Harare where I work. When I came back, the baby’s body had already been buried. I left for work and on my way my relatives called me and said my wife had exhumed the body of the baby,” the woman’s husband Albert Nyemba said.
“I came back and witnessed the bizarre incident. My wife was asked by relatives why she had committed that heinous act and she said she wanted me to see the baby’s body since I was not present during her burial.”
Nyemba told NewsDay his wife experienced regular bouts of mental illness.
He said soon after the incident, they reported the matter to the police and Chief Gondo who ordered them to rebury the body at a different site and in the absence of his wife.
The village’s vice-headman Jonathan Musona also confirmed the incident.
