Dead girl resurrects, eats, drinks and dies again

By Sukoluhle Ndlovu

GOKWE – Mourners at a funeral in Nembudziya, Gokwe, were left speechless after the “deceased” miraculously rose from the dead recently.

The teenager at the centre of the drama had been believed to be “dead” for THREE DAYS before she woke up and got out of the coffin. She ate porridge before drinking water. She later on died for good after being admitted to hospital that same day.

The drama around the death of Ashel Abigail Zananda (14) of Sigali Village has since been talk of the area. The teenager had died on 8 June and she woke up three days later, when her “corpse” had been put in a coffin.

The chief, village heads and villagers, who witnessed the incident, are still perplexed. It could not be established if a medical practitioner or police had initially certified the girl dead.

Villagers also told this reporter that the incident occurred in the same village where a black bird snatched a toddler and flew away with him before dumping him alive in the fields.

Gokwe-Nembudziya Member of Parliament, Justice Mayor Wadyajena, confirmed the incident, saying it was indeed shocking.

“The chief and village heads need to help this family look for solutions from traditional healers. It’s true that the girl died but she woke up, ate and drank some water. The chief and village heads should make a plan as far as this matter is concerned,” said Wadyajena. Cousin to Ashel, Admore Mashonganyika (46), narrates what happened.

“My sister was complaining of a headache for about three months. She died at our aunt’s residence in Empress where she was being prayed for by a certain prophetess. After she died, we asked for her body for burial. Three days later, the prophetess told us that the girl was alive and asked why we wanted to bury her alive,” he said.

“Surprisingly after three days, her body was not cold and rigid as expected of a corpse. The prophetess from African Apostolic Church, with the help of other congregants, prayed and the corpse started making movements before raising a hand in the coffin. The girl was then taken out of the coffin,” he added.

Mashonganyika also said Ashel was taken out of the coffin and her body was put against a wall with her hands balancing on both sides.

“She was taken out of the coffin and was placed near the wall which she leaned against with her hands balancing on both sides. They cooked porridge for her and she had five full spoons before drinking half a cup of water”, said Mashonganyika.

Parents, headman testify

The father to the deceased, Esau Zananda (40), said he was at a loss for words with regards to happened to his daughter.

It is true that my daughter woke up after being dead for three days. She woke up, sat and ate porridge and she also drank water. We then took her to hospital and she later on died permanently,” said Zenanda. Precious Muringo (35), mother to the deceased, believes that it’s an act of witchcraft.

“This is a pure act of witchcraft. The people here do not get tired of pilling misery on me. They want to kill all my children, my husband and I as well. My daughter used to tell me that there are people who wanted to kill her”, she said.

The headman of the village Misheck Sigali (67) also confirmed the incident.

“I wasn’t there when it happened but I was told that Chief Nembudziya had to call a traditional healer known as Dhumba to attend to the situation. The traditional healer got there and he pressed Ashel’s tummy and she nose bled.

The police were then called in and she was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead,” he said.

More drama as body is exhumed

The body was later taken back home and she was buried the following day. But more drama was still to come.

On the same day, the police went and exhumed the body saying it was supposed to undergo post-mortem so that the cause of death could be determined. The body was taken to Nembudziya hospital where it awaited a car to take it to Bulawayo for post-mortem. The relatives later asked for the body for burial as no car had been secured for transportation of the boby to Bulawayo.

The uncle to the deceased, William Zananda (66), also narrates the shocking incident.

“I saw her waking up with my own eyes. This is just a pure act of witchcraft. There are a lot of witches and wizards in this village. Sometime in 2003, a certain boy also died and woke up just like my niece. So as a family we want to consult traditional healers”, said William Zenanda.

Contacted for comment, ZRP Midlands spokesperson Inspector Joel Goko confirmed the incident saying he got the report and that police officers went to attend to the incident. “I can confirm that I got such a report and that there are police officer who actually went to the scene of the incident”, said Inspector Goko. — Additional reporting by Kwayedza. B Metro