Man Jailed 20 Years for Killing 86-Year-Old Father Over Witchcraft Accusations

CHINHOYI – The High Court in Chinhoyi has sentenced a 28-year-old man to 20 years in prison for the murder of his 86-year-old father after accusing the elderly man of practising witchcraft. Justice Phildah Muzofa convicted Talent Chirongoma of murder with constructive intent, ruling that he repeatedly assaulted his father with wooden logs during a violent attack at the family's homestead on September 10, 2025.

The court found that although Chirongoma may not have intended to kill his father, he must have foreseen that repeatedly striking an elderly man with wooden logs was likely to cause fatal injuries.

"The attack on the deceased was callous and incessant," Justice Muzofa said in her judgment.

The judge ruled that the murder was aggravated because the victim was over the age of 70.

"It is highly aggravating that the accused killed his father, an octogenarian. Instead of protecting his aged father as is expected of children, he was the villain," she said.

The court heard that Chirongoma returned home and became enraged after finding church members gathered with his father.

According to evidence presented during the trial, he accused his father of being "the devil incarnate" and blamed him for years of family misfortunes, including illnesses and other unexplained problems, alleging that the elderly man practised witchcraft. Witnesses testified that church members fled the homestead as Chirongoma armed himself with wooden logs and repeatedly assaulted his father. A man who attempted to intervene was also attacked and knocked unconscious.

A post-mortem examination found that the 86-year-old died from an epidural haemorrhage and haemorrhagic shock resulting from multiple injuries to the head, torso and limbs. Chirongoma denied the murder during the trial, claiming he had been at work when the attack occurred. However, Justice Muzofa rejected his alibi after finding significant contradictions in his testimony.

"Lies have short legs," the judge remarked while assessing his evidence.

The court also admitted a warned and cautioned statement in which Chirongoma confessed to the killing.

"I admit to the charge levelled against me that I murdered my father by assaulting him with wooden logs," the statement read.

Justice Muzofa ruled that the confession was supported by both the medical evidence and witness testimony presented before the court.

During the proceedings, Chirongoma's mother, Makaita Chirongoma, told the court that her son genuinely believed his father was responsible for the family's problems through alleged witchcraft. Justice Muzofa described the mother as being "obviously torn between two", saying she had suffered the devastating loss of both her husband and, effectively, her son through his criminal actions.

While acknowledging that the family genuinely held beliefs in witchcraft, the judge stressed that such beliefs could never justify taking another person's life.

"Even if he was a witch, an eye for an eye approach is not justified at law; it will certainly make the whole world blind," she said.

"The right to life protected in our Constitution is not for the perfect human being. That right is for everyone by virtue of being a human being."

In mitigation, the court accepted that the family's deeply held belief in witchcraft had influenced Chirongoma's actions. Justice Muzofa said that without that mitigating factor, a sentence closer to 25 years' imprisonment would have been appropriate. She ultimately imposed the statutory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison for the aggravated murder.

Man jailed for killing father over witchcraft