A woman from Bikita, Masvingo Province, allegedly forced her three minor children to drink poison before taking her life following a domestic dispute.
According to The Mirror, Persistence Mazhe (31) of Duma in Nyika, Bikita took her own life at her rural home in the Zinhata area, Farm 269 in Gutu, after she had an altercation with her husband, on Monday, 06 May.
Mazhe’s husband, Joas Taramusha said she phoned him to inform him that she was travelling to their rural home to commit suicide.
Taramusha said his son aged nine died upon admission at Silveira Mission Hospital while his two siblings aged seven and three were admitted at the hospital.
He said Mazhe bought a pesticide and forced the children to drink before she consumed it as well. Said Taramusha:
I stayed at Nyika Growth Point in Bikita with my family and I argued with my wife. She phoned me yesterday morning and informed me that she was travelling to our rural home in Gutu to commit suicide.
She phoned again after a few hours and told me that she was going to commit suicide. She bought a pesticide and forced the children to drink before she gulped it.
My brother phoned me and informed me that she had forced the children to drink the pesticide. We rushed them to Silveira Mission Hospital. My son died upon admission.
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson in Masvingo Province, Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa could not readily confirm the incident.
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