The Sunday News
Dumani Moyo
A BULAWAYO polygamist recently labelled his wife a witch and sold her family’s cattle in order to satisfy his girlfriend’s relatives who were demanding money from him.
Pendros Gumbo (34) of Queens Park also accused his wife, Etah Mfugami, of killing his first wife who died early this year.
This came out when Mfugami dragged Gumbo to court seeking a protection order to stop him from selling her family’s cattle without her consent and accusing her of killing his first wife.
Gumbo told magistrate Ms Marilyn Mutshina that his late girlfriend’s relatives were demanding payment from him for turning their daughter, who was his worker, into a wife.
“Your worship, the relatives charged me and I want to pay. They told me that I took their daughter to come and work for me but I turned her to a wife, therefore I should pay for her and the child we had together. I decided to move on and get another wife because we had not been getting along,” he said.
“My current wife does not want me to pay and she has also been accusing me of killing our son and when our daughter got into an accident she said I am the one who wants to kill her. She even told my brother that he is a wizard. Now she is stopping me from paying what is wanted.”
However, Mfugami told the court that Gumbo insulted her on several occasions calling her a witch and accusing her of causing the death of a former girlfriend of his.
She told the court that Gumbo’s late girlfriend died a few days after she visited Gumbo.
“Your Worship, when I came to Gumbo’s place, I found that woman. I asked her whether she was having an affair with my husband and she denied. I did not do anything about that. A few days later, Gumbo phoned me saying his girlfriend was very ill.
“He started insulting me saying if his girlfriend dies he will bury her at our homestead so that I can easily eat her flesh,” she said.
Magistrate Mutshina asked them not to continue saying hurtful words to each other.
Ms Mutshina granted the protection order and ordered them to go for four weeks of counselling.
