Abusive father turns home into dungeon . . . daughter meets death at his hands . . . attempts to fast-track burial

 

Moffat Mungazi
Post Reporter

ORDINARILY, a father figure is a symbol of protection, safety and security in the home.

As the head of the family, he is expected to wield the moral compass that provides direction while leading and guiding the wife and children.

Put simply, the man in a home must be an accommodating companion to the rest of the family members by being an exemplary and responsible figure.

With such a fundamental foundation in place, a house must, therefore, be a haven providing sanctuary to happy families.

However, this has not been the case for the Nyamangodo family of Mangwanda Village under Headman Mandeya in Honde Valley as the father — Amos — had allegedly turned their home into a dungeon following a long-standing history of physically and verbally abusing his children.

Unsurprisingly, his hardline stance in running the affairs of his family last week took a fatal turn when his daughter, Rufaro (14) allegedly succumbed to injuries sustained following a brutal beating at his hands after he accused her of dating their neighbour’s son.

 

The 54-year-old man was known by relatives, neighbours and the entire community as a heavy-handed disciplinarian.

A radical and authoritarian stricter, his extremism bordered on abuse; they reckon.

Virtually every member of his family bore the physical, psychological and spiritual scars of what they described as torture meted out by him.

Nyamangodo is rash and harsh, his ex-wife Ms Patricia Chawora (41) insists.

The Manica Post news crew caught up with her early this week at the family’s rural homestead in Mangwanda Village, Honde Valley during her daughter’s funeral wake.

Opening up, she told the story of a man who had become an unruly monster whose uncouth and abusive behaviour led to the collapse of their tumults matrimonial union of a dozen years.

The marriage was blessed with four children – Tatenda (21), twin brothers Tadiwa and Tanaka (18) and the late Rufaro (14) — before the couple went their separate ways in 2014.

“I was married to Amos Nyamangodo for about 12 years and we had four children together. The marriage was a living hell, and we had to divorce because I could not take it anymore. Walking away was the only way out for me. He was very abusive and would crack the whip at the slightest of provocations. No one in the house was safe from his brutal wrath. Hardly a day passed without myself or any of our children being beaten up, sometimes for no apparent reason,” said Ms Chawora.

She had no kind words for Amos, describing him as a monster.

 

“When he was in a foul mood, he would use weapons like a hoe handle and screwdriver to clobber his hapless victims just to inflict miserable pain on them. His was not a way of disciplining, but just severe punishment. Only monsters can do that. I would understand and accept it that it was me he did not love, but the way he treated our children was not expected from a caring father.

“On one occasion, he left me for dead after a thorough hiding and I woke up in the hospital. Among the twin brothers, Tadiwa and Tanaka, one was once beaten with a metal object that punctured his ankle and came out on the other side. He had to lie to the hospital authorities that the boy was injured by a bench while at school. The other one’s eye was also injured during an assault and up to this day his sight remains affected,” she said, almost choking on her emotions.

She added that several attempts to engage relatives to counsel him out of his psychopathic behaviour repeatedly drew blanks.

Her former husband — who is a qualified boilermaker — took no prisoners, Ms Chawora added.

“He was too domineering and inconsiderate that he would always have it his way,” she remarked.

Narrating how Rufaro met her fate, she came close to tears as she sank into despair.

She felt doom conspired to snatch her daughter from the clutch of her arms and surrendered her to the narcissistic Amos.

“Rufaro was in my care during all of her primary school. I was also staying with Tatenda in Harare, while Tanaka and Tadiwa were with their father in Honde Valley. Our daughter only started staying with her father when she visited him in December 2022 for the school holiday. All of a sudden without discussing and agreeing, he just informed me that he had secured her secondary school placement in Honde Valley and from henceforth had taken over her custody. Last year she changed schools every term,” Ms Chawora narrated.

 

She said trouble had already started simmering barely months into Amos and Rufaro’s ill-fated living together at their rural home.

“In August last year, a concerned parent from the community called and informed me that Rufaro had been severely assaulted by her father. I immediately travelled to Hauna, only to find my daughter in a sorry state. She sustained a bruised face, lacerated back and swollen right arm when her father beat her up after accusing her of dating our neighbour’s son,” said Ms Chawora.

Ms Chawora said Rufaro narrated her ordeal at the hands of her father.

 

The girl denied that she was dating the said boy, and revealed that she only admitted after the relentless beating.

Amos allegedly used a hoe handle to assault the Form One learner.

He even went to the extent of summoning an aunt to check if the girl was still a virgin and had not fallen pregnant.

After Rufaro got a clean bill of health, her father insisted that she must open up about all the other boys she was dating.

When Ms Chawora returned to Harare, she left bus fare with the twin brothers for her daughter to follow her to the capital city.

“When Amos caught wind of the arrangement, he took it out on me,” she said.

“After that incident in August last year, I thought the issue had been resolved, only to be called again and informed that my daughter had died after being beaten up over the same matter,” she stammered amid sobs.

The Manica Post has in its possession several text messages which Ms Chawora sent to her ex-husband, warning him against the incessant onslaught on their daughter.

“Amos, why do you continue beating up the child? Is that how a father should take care of his own daughter . . .? Everyone in the community is disturbed by your cruel actions . . . You are failing to take proper care of our children and others you have sired with many women who have also left you . . . This is what you wanted, Amos; now that the child has died,” read some of the text messages.

 

Amos did not respond to any of the text messages.

Ms Chawora said losing the flower of her life was particularly painful to take as she had high hopes for her.

“She was such a nice and obedient girl, the apple of my eye. I will never understand what offence she had committed to be brutally beaten to death. Rufaro’s life has been cut short and I will never be with her again,” she said.

Ms Chawora said it was difficult for her to accept that their daughter was severely assaulted and succumbed to the sustained injuries at the hands of her former husband, a man who was supposed to protect her as a father.

“Even though he was the father, he had no right to treat Rufaro the way he did. Perhaps the prison is the only place that can tame his unacceptable behaviour,” she retorted.

Ms Chawora said she has always wanted the best for all her children.

Although her ex-husband is a teetotaller as he neither smokes nor takes alcohol, Ms Chawora described him as a control freak and unhinged.

One of the twin brothers, Tadiwa, said they watched helplessly on several occasions as their father pounced on Rufaro.

He said they were only spared of his wrath because he probably feared that the two male siblings would gang up on him and fight back.

“Watching Rufaro being beaten up had become a regular occurrence in the home. Although he did not turn his rod us, we were unable to restrain him from assaulting our sister. He often flogged her using a hoe handle or cable switch,” said the soft-spoken teenager.

The family patriarch, Mr Edison Nyamangodo (75), who is a brother to Amos’ late father, said his nephew was a tough nut to crack.

“He was so difficult to deal with, and did not even heed the advice or warning of other people, including family, relatives and elders in the community. He was hell bent on having it his way all the time even if it was wrong.

“In our traditional culture, I am the head of the Nyamangodo family by virtue of being the eldest surviving member, but Amos would override me in everything. Everyone else was wrong and only him was right. Sadly, this is what his tough stance on everything in life — even when unnecessary — has led to,” said Edison.

In a desperate bid to cover up his dreadful act, Amos attempted to fast-track Rufaro’s burial without a post-mortem being done on her body.

He even allegedly tried to mischievously suggest that Rufaro had committed suicide by drinking a pesticide.

Explained Edison: “After leaving his homestead to make a police report, we were all surprised to see him returning with a coffin. This was strange because he had not discussed and agreed on the burial arrangements with other family members or his in-laws. He just told us that the police had granted him the greenlight to bury Rufaro as the post-mortem was expensive and would take up to six months to have results availed.

“However, we were all baffled to see police arriving with their own metal coffin to ferry the body and convey it to the mortuary for a post-mortem. Our suspicion was that he did not even go to the police station and was lying that the burial had been sanctioned.”

He said the coffin Amos had brought was locked up in one of the rooms before he was whisked away by the police.

Edison’s sister, Mrs Georgina Mangwanda corroborated his assertion that dealing with Amos posed serious headaches to the whole family.

Village head, Mr Patrick Nyasango said Amos was a bad example of parenting.

“He was a thorn in the flesh, forgetting that he needed to interact with others in the village he lived in. His largely stubborn and extremely uncompromising stance on most matters was never good for anyone including himself, his family, relatives and the entire community,” said Village head Nyasango.

The traditional leader added that such is the ultimate price those who adamantly refuse to conform to Ubuntu inevitably pay.

A villager who was among other mourners at Rufaro’s funeral wake, said Amos was just bad news.

“He did not bother to care where to draw and toe the line, even when people older than him and fellow villagers tried to restrain him. He had turned his homestead into a no-go area and he did not allow his children to freely mingle with others. Our hope is that if he gets convicted for the crime, his time in prison will serve as rehabilitation and transform him for possible reintegration into society,” said the woman who spoke on condition of anonymity.