The Sunday News
THERE was drama at the burial of a Shurugwi security guard who recently killed his three children and committed suicide when his widow besieged his parents’ homestead in Mkandapi, Shurugwi, and tried to stop his relatives from burying her children.
The widow, Eunice Paundi, allegedly caused a stir at the funeral when she attempted to stop her late husband, Joachim Paundi’s relatives from burying her children in the evening, arguing that this was against Shona culture.
It is alleged that Eunice insulted her late husband’s relatives with unprintable words accusing them of having a hand in the death of her children.
A relative who refused to be named said Eunice went for the burial in the company of her relatives and told Joachim’s relatives not to bury their children in the evening.
“The bodies arrived late from Bulawayo where they had been taken for postmortem. Joachim’s relatives decided to bury them in the evening, arguing that since they had been poisoned by cyanide the bodies could not spend another night outside the mortuary as they were at an advanced stage of decomposition.
“Cyanide is corrosive and the bodies were fast decomposing. This forced the relatives to bury them in the evening which angered Eunice who went to the graves and tried to stop the relatives from burying her children yelling that they were happy that her children had died. She left soon after the burial,” said the relative.
Joachim’s uncle, Mr Tinos Mungenge-Rungani, confirmed that Eunice insulted some of the relatives at her children’s burial.
“It is true that there were harsh words that were exchanged at the burial when Eunice tried to stop the burial, arguing that it was late. There was a little scuffle which degenerated into a near fight. She was later calmed down and we buried the bodies,” he said.
Efforts to get a comment from Eunice were futile as she left Joachim’s rural home soon after the burial and when Sunday News went to her house in Shurugwi she was said to have left for her rural home in Chivhu.
Meanwhile, her boss, Mr David Stoddart, refuted allegations that he was having an affair with Eunice.
“I was not happy with what came out in the newspaper that I was having an affair with Eunice, those were lies,” he said.
The tragic incident occurred on Monday last week when Joachim lured his three children Diana (15), Amo (12) and Nyasha (7) to a nearby hill purporting to be going for prayers.
He laced their drinks with cyanide and forced them to drink. He then dumped their bodies in a disused mine shaft near Shurugwi Golf Course.
He proceeded to his rural home in Mkandapi where he called his friend Simon and told him what he had done and where to find his children’s bodies.
Joachim went on to commit suicide by drinking whisky laced with cyanide.
