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Freedom Mupanedemo Midlands Bureau
A man from Somabula, outside Gweru, allegedly used a wire to secure from outside, the door of a hut in which his mother and two siblings were sleeping and set it on fire in the dead of the night.

The mother, Ms Prisca Manyemba, a teacher at Somabula Primary School, on Monday escaped with serious burns and is now recovering at Gweru Provincial Hospital while the two children escaped with minor injuries.

Blessed Midzi (28) is now on the run. The incident happened after a fight over a cow. His younger brother, Prosper (21), had to break the door using an axe. Midzi’s mother told The Herald from her hospital bed yesterday that she has since reported the matter to the police.

“I am a widow and since the death of my husband some few years ago, I have been having problems with my son, Blessed. He is always away panning for gold and each time he comes home, he harasses me and his siblings. On the fateful day, he left the homestead grudgingly around 4pm because I had told him to leave since I was tired of his behaviour.

“He has a wife and did not want his wife to do household chores arguing that she was learned and a holder of an A-level certificate so I told them to find somewhere else to stay. This is what angered him and he attempted to kill us by burning the hut in which we were sleeping,” she said.

Ms Manyemba said her other son, Prosper, who was sleeping in the same hut when it caught fire saved them from perishing in the fire. “Prosper was the one who quickly woke up and alerted us that the hut was on fire.

“He took an axe to break the door after realising that it had been tied from the outside. “I quickly knew it was my son Blessed who had committed the offence and I have reported the matter to the police,” she said. Police yesterday said they were investigating the matter.