Family try to raise dead aunt
2007-04-18 14:07
Bushbuckridge - A family was convinced that if they dug up a dead relative six months after she had died, she would come alive.
She didn't, and the family ended up in court.
On Tuesday, the Mhala magistrate's court in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, found Julia Mokoena, 38, and her brother-in-law Zakaria Tivane, 30, guilty of desecrating Mokoena's sister's grave.
"Even Jesus Christ rose after three days, not after six months," said magistrate Sam Nkuna. "So where did you hear such miracles could happen to a badly decomposed corpse?"
Mokoena and Tivane were sentenced to three months in jail or a R600 fine. They made arrangements to pay the fine.
Mokoena's teenaged nephew and niece were let off the hook when the boy turned State's witness and the niece was found not guilty.
Mokoena testified that her other sister, and the teenagers had come to her house in Rolle Godide near the Manyeleti game reserve on the morning of December 7, with the idea of resurrecting their late sister, Lindiwe Mokoena, 30.
She said her nephew, aged 18, claimed he'd been sent by God to dig up his aunt and hold prayer sessions so that she could rise from the dead at noon.
"I was sure that she was going to rise from dead as (my nephew) said he had seen a vision," she said. "His words impressed me as I loved my sister. So I let them dig up her corpse without consulting any of our village elders. I was confused by excitement."
Tivane testified that the two teenagers were sent to wake him up and witness his sister-in-law rise from the dead.
He denied that he told police that at 11:30 he saw the plastic sheet over the corpse start to rise and fall during the prayer session, as though it was starting to breathe.
A policeman testified that when he arrived on the scene, he also found the teenaged girl spinning around the yard "as though possessed by spirits" and singing: "Alleluia! Alleluia!"
Tivane said he was not a Christian and did not participate in the prayers.
He also said he was an epileptic and that his feet ached all the time, so he couldn't have participated in the prayers if he wanted to.
Magistrate Nkuna asked why then, there were photos of him at the event.
Tivane boldly responded that he couldn't remember what happened that day and blamed it on his ill health.
Tivane said he only helped remove some soil from the grave, while the two teenagers dug it up with shovels and picks.
Magistrate Nkuna criticised the adults for believing the teenagers.
Meanwhile, the same court sentenced a 35-year-old man last Thursday for digging up his seven-year-old son's grave.
Sevens Mnisi of Ludlow was sentenced to R1 000 fine or six months in jail for desecrating the grave. He paid the fine.
Mnisi's son, Survive, had drowned with two other boys in a dam last year.
Mnisi wanted his ex-wife to take the body home with her.