"Avenging Spirit" Torments Driver Who Knocked Down Pedestrian
An assistant driver who was involved in a traffic road accident in 2003 claims his family is being attacked by an alleged avenging spirit of a man who died in the accident.
The assistant driver, Matthew Chakandidano, recently appeared before Headman Chigodora’s court where he said the spirit of the deceased was causing mental illness and epileptic seizures in his family.
He said on the day of the accident, he was working with another driver (name not supplied), whom he alleges hit and killed Justin Saungweme.
Chakandidano believes Saungweme’s spirit is tormenting him since he was the last person he saw before he died and also because he did not attend his funeral. He said:
We were driving past Saburi Business Centre when my driver and mentor hit Saungweme, his friend.
When the driver realised what had happened, he disembarked from the vehicle and rushed to the police to report the accident.
He left me at the accident scene with Saungweme’s body under the vehicle.
When villagers arrived, they assumed that I was the one who had been driving and that l had killed the man.
They did not wait for an explanation and attacked me. I lost some teeth during that fracas.
However, when the police eventually arrived with the driver, I was released by the angry mob and the driver was arrested.
After that, I did not attend Saungweme’s funeral as I was angry over the attack. I never went to the Saungweme family to pay my respects.
While I was angry, I was also afraid that the family would assault me.
Chakandidano said he regrets not attending Saungweme’s funeral. He added:
Apart from being mentally challenged, my relatives are also developing epilepsy. The seizures are very serious and we are always in hospital.
However, when we get to the hospital, the seizures stop and the doctors fail to diagnose any ailment.
As we speak, two children are having severe seizures at home, and I do not know if they are safe at home alone.
The Saungweme family refused to attend the court session and sent the deceased’s son, David Saungweme, to inform the court of their decision.
Headman Chigodora referred the matter to Acting Chief Zimunya’s court.
The Headman advised Chakandidano and his family to appease the avenging spirit, warning that failure to do so would result in more misery for them. He said:
It is an avenging spirit even though you did not kill him. You are the last person he saw before he died.
His spirit will continue haunting you until you appease it. It was an accident, but you should have attended the funeral. That was uncustomary of you.
You are neighbours with these people but decided not to attend the funeral.
Africans, including some Zimbabweans, believe in the existence of avenging spirits (“Ngozi” in Shona), whose quest for revenge for some wrong perpetrated on them during their lifetime will cause enormous trouble for the guilty party and his or her family until they are appeased.
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