In an incident that left villagers in Juru shell-shocked, a 54-year-old Murewa man confessed that he exhumed his dead niece’s body after conniving with the late Chief Chinamhora (real name Simon Chidziva), who reportedly wanted to take the bones to a sangoma to boost his business ventures.
By Jairos Saunyama
Happison Chirimudombo, who is reportedly related to the late traditional leader, was arrested after he was found in possession of human bones belonging to his late disabled niece Gamuchirai, who died some years ago.
He is facing charges of violating a corpse or tampering with a grave.
Mashonaland East acting provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Tendai Mwanza confirmed Chirimudombo’s arrest.
“I can confirm the arrest of a man who exhumed the body of a late juvenile for ritual purposes. He was also found in possession of human bones and the public should know that it is an offence to tamper with a corpse,” he said.
According to the police, on March 10, the Chirimudombo family invited a self-styled prophet Taurai Nyamanjerere for a cleansing ceremony after experiencing a spate of misfortunes.
The prophet allegedly exposed Chirimudondo’s act and the latter confessed to the crime.
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In his confession, Chirimudombo reportedly implicated the late traditional leader as the brains behind the illegal exhumation exercise.
However, according to Chirimudombo, the traditional healer later refused to use the bones, saying they were of a disabled person, hence the magic would not work.
On their way back, Chief Chinamhora and the suspect reportedly dumped the human remains in Munhenga River in Shamva.
Upon arrival at home, Chirimudombo realised that he had mistakenly left behind some of the bones, which led to his arrest after police collected them and took them to the mortuary. Chief Chinamhora died in 2015.
