A Grade 6 pupil at Seventh-day Adventist Church-run Lowveld Primary School in Chiredzi hung himself from a tree last Tuesday after he was reprimanded by his mother.
The boy, Frank Muvavarirwa (12), of Makondo Extension, took his own life after being ordered to return two clay pots (mbiya) he allegedly picked at an apostolic sect shrine.
Frank hung himself from a tree in a bushy area near his parents’ house at around 9 AM after his mother Rangarirai Chamisa had instructed him to return the two clay pots he had brought home.
The Mirror reported a source as saying the mother thought that Frank had taken the clay pots from a shrine and a Madzibaba could cast a bad spell on the family. Said the source:
Frank came home carrying two pots at around 9 am and his mother instructed him to take them back because she suspected that they belong to a Madzibaba who could cast a curse on him.
He left home with the pots and did not return. His mother went looking for him only to find him hanging from a tree in a nearby bush.
ZRP Masvingo provincial spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa confirmed the incident to The Mirror and said police were yet to determine the cause of the suicide. | The Mirror