Chipinge Woman Demands Exhumation Of Her Daughter Who Was Buried At Night

A Chipinge woman has demanded the exhumation of her daughter who was buried at night three weeks ago following an argument with her in-laws.

Susan Antonio of Hanyani Village under Chief Mutema says her 21-year-old daughter, Talent Sigauke, died in South Africa a month ago and her body was repatriated to Zimbabwe for burial.

Reports suggest that Sigauke was then hurriedly buried under the cover of coronavirus restrictions in her mother, Antonio’s absence.

She suspects that her daughter was murdered by her son-in-law, Moses Mtisi, who she claims murdered his wife in South Africa.

Antonio spoke at length to the Manica Post about the mysterious incident. She said:

I am still trying to come to terms with what happened to my daughter. On the day of her burial at around 11 am, I was at my homestead when I heard people crying at the Mtisi homestead. Little did I know that they were actually mourning my daughter.

I was shocked when a close friend of mine visited me to pay her condolences. That is how I got to know that my daughter was no more.

Later on, my in-laws came to tell me about Talent’s death. They told me that her body had been repatriated from South Africa.

I directed them to my daughter’s father since we separated years back.

However, Antonio’s in-laws came back later in the company of people who claimed to be law enforcement agents and ordered her to attend her daughter’s burial. She said:

This is how my relatives and I ended up attending the funeral. However, a misunderstanding ensued as the Mtisis were instructed to pay lobola before burying Talent.

This degenerated into a fight and we had to flee. After our departure, the Mtisis proceeded to bury Talent’s body at around 8 pm that night.

None of my relatives viewed the body. I do not even know if the body they buried was actually that of my daughter.

After contacting my brother in South Africa, he told me that Talent succumbed to injuries she sustained from Moses’ assaults. I shall not rest until justice prevails.

Chipinge Rural District Ward 6 Councillor Phenios Muzamana confirmed the nocturnal burial and called for further investigations.

Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers’ Association (ZINATHA) president, George Kandiero, also said it was against cultural norms to bury a person at night and that even coronavirus cannot change that.