A 29-YEAR-OLD Chivhu woman yesterday slit her four children’s throats before setting the family house on fire following a dispute with her husband over infidelity.
BY MIRIAM MANGWAYA
Emelda Marazani also reportedly attempted to commit suicide by taking poison after killing her daughters aged nine, five, three and one.
Police sources claimed that Marazani, who was pregnant, had a stillbirth while in hospital where she was being treated, but personnel at the hospital said the pregnancy was intact.
She handed herself to the police after committing the crime, but was admitted at Chivhu General Hospital, where she was put under police guard.
Chivhu Hospital medical superintendent Alice Kanyemba said Marazani was in a stable condition.
“She is at an advanced stage of pregnancy, but for now, no signs of complications have shown,” she said.
It is reported that Marazani and her husband Lameck Brande had a dispute at the weekend after she saw a message from his alleged girlfriend, a Form 4 pupil at local school.
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Following the dispute, on Monday they went to Chirumanzi to seek advice from Marazani’s relatives and returned to Chivhu.
Yesterday, Brande went to work, but Marazani, who was employed as a shop assistant in Chivhu, did not go to work and instead bought an unknown pesticide.
When she returned home, she locked her four children in one room, tied the two older ones together and cut their throats with a kitchen knife.
She then turned on the smaller ones and killed them too.
Neighbours rushed to the scene after seeing smoke coming from the house and met Marazani who told them it was just a minor fire which she had already extinguished. She then left her house in haste, according to witnesses.
“I quickly sent messages to various local WhatsApp groups when I saw smoke from the house, attempting to notify the house owners that their house was on fire, only to discover few minutes later the owner was actually there,” a witness, who preferred anonymity, said.
Neighbours managed to retrieve the bodies of two younger girls, but the other two who were tied together were burnt beyond recognition. The house and the property were also destroyed by the fire.
Police confirmed the incident.
“The suspect, Emelda Marazani (29), had a marital dispute with her husband, Lameck Brande (43) and when the husband left for work in the morning, the suspect locked the children aged nine, five, three and one in the house. She took a rope and tied the other two elder children before slitting open their throats with a knife. The suspect went on to kill the other two children with the knife before setting the house on fire,” Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said in a statement last night.
He said Marazani then drank poison which she had earlier bought before going out.
“Neighbours saw some smoke and asked her what was happening. She said all was in order before she handed herself over to the police.”
