Sukoluhle Ndlovu
An incestuous relationship between two siblings from Ndadulo Village under Chief Mkoka in Gokwe, shocked the community after the illicit relationship resulted in pregnancy.
Twenty four-year-old Nkazimulo Tshuma and his teen sister Everjoy Tshuma (19), were both dragged to Chief Mkoka’s traditional court by their neighbours, for having sexual intercourse within a prohibited degree of relationship. Chief Mkoka ordered them to pay a fine of two goats.
Timothy Ncube, a neighbour to the two siblings, said the two started sleeping together soon after their parents’ death in 2013.
“The two siblings who started staying alone following the death of their parents told Chief Mkoka that they started having sex more than five years ago,” he said.
He said if it wasn’t for the pregnancy, no one was going to know about the illicit affair.
“If it wasn’t for this pregnancy, no one was going to suspect that these two were sleeping together. Everyone else just thought their relationship was only a brother-sister relationship.
“We only got to know about the relationship after we confronted the girl when we noticed the pregnancy. At first she was refusing to divulge that his brother was responsible for the pregnancy,” he said.
Chief Mkoka confirmed presiding over the matter.
“I presided over a matter of two siblings who had a relationship which resulted in pregnancy. I strongly warned them against that relationship. Such kind of relationships are totally unacceptable in our culture and should be frowned upon,” he said.
Chief Mkoka said if it wasn’t for the fact that the two were orphans, the fine could have been stiffer.
“I had to be lenient with them because they are orphans. But if it wasn’t for that, l would have fined them a beast or two,” he said.
