THE Chikafa family from Mabharani Village, Gokwe South, wants the court to pardon its relative, Alastar Chikafa (26), for allegedly killing his father and brother late last year.

This is against the wishes of members of the community that are calling for a stiffer prison sentence for the offender. The Chikafas are visibly hurt and disturbed by the incident, but blame it on evil spirits.

They have since forgiven the young man and are planning to conduct rituals supposedly to set free Alastar from the vice.
“It was the work of the devil, he could never do such a thing in his normal senses,” the family unanimously say.

Talk of family love through thick and thin!

The grisly homicide case that is said to have been committed by the 26-year-old can easily match any of Hollywood’s Stephen King’s movie scripts.

It transpired after his long-time girlfriend, Loveness Mafa, decided to give him a “boost” into marriage by eloping in May last year. Initially, the plan seemed to work well as Alastar swiftly responded by going far and wide to raise the money for lobola.

However, several months into the mission, the young lad is said to have failed to achieve his goals.

He then returned with a transformed character that many could not understand.

On December 9, 2019, Chikafa developed unexplained rage that later resulted in him axing his father Mathias (65) on the back of his head several times.

His brother, Alfred (28), was also axed on the neck, as well as two cows. For days before the crime, he is said to have frequently talked about being bewitched by family members. He threatened to commit murder.-State media