Stark naked
woman causes stir By
Stanford Chiwanga A
- 38 –YEAR –OLD woman in Bulawayo’s Nkulumane high-density suburb
has caused a stir by allegedly walking stark naked around her yard every Monday
morning around 4 am. Residents
interviewed by the Sunday News this week, said the woman does seven rounds , around
her house seven times before going inside. “We
are living in fear because we suspect that she is a witch. It is not usual for
one to walk around naked, it raises a lot of eyebrows in our African society because
that behaviour is associated with witchcraft,” said a neighbour who demanded
anonymity. The
neighbour also said she suspected that the woman was responsible for a number
of mysterious deaths, which occurred in the neighbourhood.
Two children, a
boy and girl from the same family died one after another from an unknown ailment. A
resident, Mr Thomas Moyo who resides close to the woman, believed the woman was
possessed by some spirits. “Her
father was an inyanga, therefore its not amazing that the spirit of her father
is living in her. There I would not call it witchcraft because in our African
tradition such things are an accepted norm,” said Mr Moyo. However,
another neighbour who chose not to remain anonymous, said the fact that the woman
strips her clothes shows that she was a witch. “By
walking stark naked, the woman has proved beyond doubt that she is practicing
witchcraft. And why does she walk naked on Mondays only?” she argued. When
Sunday News interviewed the woman in question, she refuted the allegations leveled
against her. “There
is no truth in all the rumours and is just speculations circulating but I understand
where they arise from. One early Monday morning I walked out of my house naked
to collect a T-shirt I had forgotten because I thought no one would see me, unfortunately
someone saw me. Now
rumours are flying around because of that incident. And I would like to make it
clear that I am not possessed by ancestral spirits. I am a God fearing Christian
and if there is any spirit within me it is of the holy-spirit,” said the
woman. The woman
revealed that there is another rumour doing rounds that she is mentally deranged. “It
is a pity that people choose to make conclusions from a distance, I urge them
to confront me and I will explain everything to them. I am not insane, I am in
my right frame of mind, my father’s spirit is not living in me and I am not
a witch,” she said.
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