The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
IN a spine-chilling murder that has sent tongues wagging, a Marange woman allegedly choked and smashed her Grade Six son’s head on a cemented surface, leading to his death.
The boy (13) was accused of bunking school lessons.
The incident took place on February 26, and has courted the wrath of villagers in Chief Marange’s Mangatu Village.
The woman, Lydia Kahwema (36) has since been arrested over the death of her son Tafadzwa, who was in Grade Six at Mangatu Primary School, in Marange.
A sombre mood engulfed the area on Saturday as villagers who spoke to The Manica Post grappled to come to terms with the atrocious incident.
A 12-year-old who witnessed the horrific incident, was in a state of shock as he narrated the events of the fateful day.
“I was by the road when aunt Lydia called and asked me to bring her a cable switch so that she could discipline Tafadzwa who had bunked classes around 10am.
“I gave her a small cable switch, but she insisted on a bigger one, and before I could return with it, she had her hands on Tafadzwa’s neck and was choking him. She took the cable switch I had brought for the second time and started assaulting Tafadzwa. She kicked him too,” said the minor.
It is alleged that Kahwema pounded Tafadzwa’s head against a cement wall on numerous occasions.
Tafadzwa allegedly cried, warning his mother that she was killing him.
The pleas fell on deaf ears as Lydia continued hurting him. That Tafadzwa was bleeding profusely from both mouth and nose did not deter her.
“Tafadzwa was crying, asking her if she knew she was killing him. He insisted that was the last time she would see him,” narrated the boy.
By then Tafadzwa was vomiting blood.
He begged his cousin to give him some water as he lay in the pool of his blood but Lydia allegedly refused.
“She shouted at me that I should not give him the water, and I left for home out of fear. Then Tafadzwa was lying in a pool of his blood,” the boy said.
Lydia’s aunt, Pendei Kahwema said after killing her child, Lydia called her and showed her the bedroom where Tafadzwa was lying dead.
“She called me and told me to enter into her bedroom to see my grandchild. She remained outside and when I got in. Tafadzwa’s body had been put on bed and dressed up.
“She then showed me the bloody clothes which he had also soiled before his death. She told me that she had assaulted him because he had bunked lessons when. She protested that she was toiling to raise fees for his education yet he was not taking school seriously,” said Mbuya Kahwema.
Tafadzwa’s body has since been taken to Harare for post-mortem.
Kahwema is expected to appear in court March 16.
