Judgement due in trial of Chivhu woman who beheaded her 4 daughters

HARARE – The trial of a woman who killed her four daughters and then chopped off their heads claiming it was an act of love ended at the Harare High Court on Wednesday.

Emelda Marizanhi, 32, from Chivhu, tried to blame her actions on a history of mental illness in her family, but a doctor who examined her found her to be of stable mind.

Justice Munamato Mutevedzi of the Harare High Court will deliver his judgement on Friday.

Marizanhi poisoned the children in November 2020 and when she thought they might survive, took a knife and beheaded them. She also took the same poison trying to kill herself but survived.

She told her trial that her actions were an act of mercy because she feared her children would have a miserable life after her husband left her for another woman.

Her mother Marai Mupini and her maternal aunt, Eunice Mutukwa, told the court that Marizanhi was a loving mother and they found it difficult to accept that she killed her children.

They also confirmed a history of mental illness in their family.

Taking the witness stand on the last day of her trial, she told the court that she feared her children would be mistreated by their stepmother once she was dead. She narrated how she had a tough upbringing after her father divorced her mother while she was young, and she did not want her children to go through the same experience.

“I also wanted to die,” she said. “That day I first took rat poison in the form of pills and called my children to take them as well before I instructed them to go to bed.

“I was not breathing well and I realised there were survival chances so to avoid that I had to finish them (children) off. So I decided to cut their throats with a knife.

“I did this because I did not want my children to suffer and grow up miserable in my absence as I did when I was growing up.”

She said after a tough childhood, life became easier when she met her husband Lameck Brande and the two were happy in the early years of their marriage.

The couple, according to Marizanhi, started from humble beginnings and worked very hard together to change their lifestyle.

At the time of the murders, they had acquired immovable and movable properties including a flourishing business, but she said the money changed her husband who became abusive and a womaniser, causing her a lot of stress.

“We started from scratch,” she testified. “We had nothing when we got married but we were happy. The problems started when we started amassing wealth. My husband became abusive and was involved in extra marital affairs with several women.”

State witness and psychiatrist Dr Patrick Mhaka tendered an affidavit confirming that Marizanhi, in his assessment, had no mental health issues.

Enjoyed this post? Share it!