The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Weekender Correspondent
THE death of a suspected Odzi thief shortly after receiving a curse and death threats from his victim has left locals weak-kneed and speechless.
According to Marambakutongwa villagers, Misheck Bhachi, was electrocuted on New Year’s day, a few days after he refused to return Josphat Mwashita’s property he had stolen with his wife.
Mwashita is alleged to have warned the couple to return his property or risk a death curse. Mwashita’s homestead is in Mbada B Village, Arda Transau. Fearing for her life, Mollen Ebiya and her late husband’s family returned Mwashita’s stolen property soon after Bhachi’s burial.
In an interview with The Weekender, Ward Three councillor, Moses Mujaji, said sometime around Christmas, Ebiya and her late husband, Misheck Bhachi stole a bag of fertiliser, two buckets of maize, nine shirts and cooking utensils from Mwashita’s homestead where Ebiya was employed as a part-time domestic worker. He said when Mwashita realised that his property was missing, he went to the couple’s home in Marambakutongwa Village and asked them to return his property.
“Mwashita told Ebiya that he knew that she was the one who had stolen his property. It still remains a puzzle to us how Mwashita knew that Ebiya and her husband had stolen the property because no one was present when the theft happened. He warned the couple that something bad would happen if they fail to return the stolen property.
“It was only after Bhachi’s death that Ebiya and her in-laws approached me with the stolen property. They asked me to help them engage Mwashita and have the issue resolved amicably. We went to his homestead and he accepted his property. He, however, warned Ebiya not to steal from him again,” said the councillor.
A villager from Mbada B Village, Igwe Betera, said the couple returned part of the stolen property when Mwashita confronted them. The couple is said to have remained with some cooking utensils and shirts.
“They sneaked into Mwashita’s homestead at night and left the property on the veranda. Mwashita approached them again the following day and asked them to return the remaining property, but they insisted that they had returned everything.
“This is not the first incident where a person dies after stealing from Mwashita. Recently, a man stole a cellphone and ran away with it. The guy was hit by a car five minutes later and died on the spot. It is a shame that these people plot their own demise,” he said.
In a phone interview, Mwashita admitted cursing the couple, but said it was only out of anger when he made the threats.
“Pano hapabiwi. Ndakavaudza kuti vadzose zvavakaba, vangabe zvinhu zvangu zvandakashandira here? Zvangu hazvitorwi. (No one steals from me. I simply told them to return my property that I sweated for. No one steals from me). What happened to Bhachi is not my fault. He was electrocuted while trying to steal ZESA property, that is all I know,” said Mwashita.
Misheck Bhachi’s brother, Saul, said his brother died a painful death. He had no kind words for Mwashita, claiming that it was Ebiya who stole the said property. “The curse affected the wrong person. Ebiya is the one who stole the property and she was supposed to be the victim of the curse and not my brother,” said Saul. Ebiya, however, was unavailable for a comment as all her given contacts were unreachable.
