A wife, who is suspected of not being able to withstand the pain of sharing her husband with another woman, has found herself on the wrong side of the law and is today behind bars, after allegedly plotting the woman’s murder and that of an 18-month-old baby, in order to have the husband to herself.

The unnamed woman from Ha Makhuvha outside Thohoyandou allegedly killed the other woman and her child with the help of unknown accomplices, before throwing them into a river about 10 km away from their home. Details of how the two died are not clear, but it was confirmed that the body of the victim had wounds consistent with assault.

When Mirror paid the family a visit, it was clear that the family was confused and did not know what to do. They were busy with family meetings, but one could read from their actions that they already had a suspect in mind. All talks were directed to the other wife, who they felt was answerable for the disappearance and the death of the woman and her child.

The incident, which has left the local community and the surrounding villages in a state of shock, happened last Sunday morning, exactly on the last day of the campaign against the abuse and violence against women and children, more especially by their spouses.

The incident brings to light that violence could come from any quarter, be it from husband to wife and children or even women to other women.

Vuledzani Irene Tshithombe and her child Naledzani Nemalili were allegedly last seen on Sunday morning in the company of the other woman, heading in the direction of the fields, but the child was found floating in a river in the afternoon of that Sunday. It could not be ascertained whom the baby belonged to as no one had reported her child missing. It was only on the following day, after the discovery of the mother’s body, that word spread in the village of the gruesome murders.

The main suspect, aged 41, admitted that she had gone with the deceased to the fields to feed a dog that they kept there as a watchdog. “We went together in the morning after my husband left for work. We fed the dog and came back home together,” she said. She said the other wife told her that she was going to visit her family at Tshifudi village, but this was strange as she had not told her husband about the planned visit before he left for work.

She said the same afternoon she was surprised to see police cars passing near their home, proceeding to the Ngwedi River. “I followed others who were also going there, but did not suspect that it could be a baby from our family as people were gossiping that a Zimbabwean was the father of the child,” she said. She said she was surprised to see police arriving at their home to tell them that the mother of the child, who is a member of their family, was found at the same river. “This left me very confused as I had known them to have gone to Tshifudi and they were not supposed to be at the river,” she said.

The dead woman’s husband, Nzudzeni Nemalili, said he was surprised to be told that his wife had decided to visit her home at Tshifudi without first informing him. “She has never gone to any place without telling me, and this made me very suspicious,” he said. Nemalili said he also strongly believes that his wife had a hand in the death of his other wife. “They were not on good terms; they were always fighting over minor things that clearly showed they were jealous of each other,” he said.

He said he believed the law would take its rightful course. “I am so saddened and am worried that the incident will give my family a bad name,” but he found solace in the fact that his in-laws understood that he was not involved in any way. “We will be preparing for the funerals together as we regard this as a tragedy that has befallen the two families together,” he said.

Limpopo police spokesperson in Vhembe Capt Mashudu Malelo confirmed the incident. He said they had opened inquest dockets, but these were changed to murder, after post mortem results showed that the two had been killed before they were thrown into the water. “We are now making an appeal to our communities and people who might have witnessed the incident to come forward with information that could help us in the solving of the case,” he said.