A family in Masasi Village under Chief Marange’s area in Mutare District has had no peace for the past few years as an alleged avenging spirit has been wreaking havoc.
The Chikukwa family told The Manica Post that family members are being pelted by stones, while invisible beings are biting, pinching and assaulting them.
The invisible beings are also reportedly taking food from the children’s plates and setting mysterious fires on family members’ clothes.
Twenty members of the Chikukwa family, most of them minor children, have since left their homes for a small shack to protect themselves from the stones.
The family says when they are in their cabin, they cover their bodies with thick blankets to avoid being injured by the stones.
Speaking in an interview with The Manica Post on Wednesday, Webster Chikukwa (44), whose sons Wellington (20) and Washington (15) were the first to be attacked by the stones in 2019, said:
It started with pebbles. After a time, rocks followed Wellington, even at school.
The stones would destroy our home, including the roofs. The attacks are unrelenting.
We have been to a lot of prophets, but the stones follow us there.
In fact, the prophets who have tried to assist us have also been attacked.
We sold the only cow we had in an effort to solve this problem, but nothing has changed.
The stones have been following and attacking everyone wherever we go.
It got worse for Wellington and I had to leave my job in Mutare to come and be with my family in these trying times.
The stones are destroying our houses. As if that is not enough, our clothes also catch fire out of the blue.
Chikukwa’s two sons have since dropped out of school because other children at Masasi High School were caught in the crossfire. Said Wellington:
The stones would just rain on everybody, but the pinching, biting and assaults from the invisible beings were only directed at me.
I would cry out loudly and people would just stare at me without offering any help.
My teacher is the one who advised me to inform my parents of what was happening to me at school. I have never set foot at school again.
The classroom was torture for me. The attacks were worse in class, even for my younger brother. We both dropped out in March last year.
A teacher at Masasi High School, Matthew Rwanga, confirmed that the Chikukwa brothers were forced to drop out of school by raining stones.
The matter appeared before Chief Marange where it was revealed that Chikukwa’s cousin, Vincent Chikukwa, allegedly murdered the late Rimen Jaramani while panning for gold in Odzi in 2019.
It is suspected that Jaramani’s avenging spirit is causing the problems in the Chikukwa family.
The Chikukwa family’s patriarch, Benjamin Chikukwa, reportedly paid an admission of guilt fine of three beasts to Chief Marange.
However, the alleged avenging spirit is demanding seven cattle and five goats from the Chikukwa family. Headman Nemasasi confirmed the issue. He said:
The Chikukwas have agreed to appease the avenging spirit. I gave them two days to do that and they should be back here on Saturday because they are being attacked by the stones day and night.
We all fear for their lives. Something needs to be done as soon as yesterday.