Woman barred from attending late husband’s funeral
By Gibson Mhaka
A widow from Bulawayo was barred from attending her late husband’s funeral after her in-laws accused her of killing him.
Barbra Nyoni from Mpopoma suburb’s in-laws chased her away from the funeral, accusing her of abusing their son Themba Ndlovu before his death.
They used a 2018 protection order that her late husband had against her, in which he was accusing Nyoni of constantly verbally and physically harassing him, to bar her from the funeral.
This came out at the Bulawayo Civil Courts where Nyoni was seeking a protection order against her father-in-law, Jethro Ndlovu, claiming he was chasing her away from her homestead.
“I was barred from attending my late husband Themba Ndlovu’s funeral by his father Jetro Ndlovu. My husband died on 8 November this year. Before he died there was a protection order that he sought against me on 19 October in 2018 and my father-in-law used that protection order to bar me from attending his funeral.
“He accused me of killing my husband. He is also barring me from visiting my homestead where my children are staying. My mother-in-law is now the one who is staying at that homestead without my consent,” complained Nyoni.
She said the four children she had together with her late husband were no longer going to school after her in-laws denied her access to them.
Ndlovu, who was not opposed to the application, said Nyoni was lying to justify her case.
“I have no problem with her application since I am not staying at her homestead. I have my own homestead and I don’t have any problem if she goes to her homestead. “Although I am the father of her late husband, I am staying separately with my wife who is at her homestead.
“It is also not true that I barred her from attending her late husband’s funeral. I never talked to her during the funeral wake and I am surprised by her accusations that I barred her from attending it,” said Ndlovu.
Nyoni’s request was dismissed by the presiding magistrate Lizwe Jamela following Ndlovu’s submissions that he was not the one staying at her homestead which she had claimed he (Ndlovu) was barring her from occupying. B-Metro
