From: gilford@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Gilford T. Hapanyengwi)
Subject: Re: IPS:ZIMBABWE: WHERE PARENTS RANSOM CORPSES
Organization: Vanderbilt University CS Dept.
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 06:49:48 GMT

In article <C1A4r5.CKM@ddsw1.mcs.com> barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart) writes:

   Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
   print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

   Title: ZIMBABWE: WHERE PARENTS RANSOM CORPSES


   an inter press service feature

   by andrew zhakata

   harare, jan 13 (ips) -- thomas nyahuma had lived with mabel
   masawi for six years as her common-law husband without any formal
   marriage or her parents' consent.

   twenty-year-old mabel died at the beginning of this year
   when she allegedly doused herself with paraffin and set herself
   ablaze after a domestic dispute with thomas at their place in
   highfield, one of the high-density suburbs of the capital.

   mable had two children with thomas. now her parents are
   refusing to bury her unless thomas pays them 5,000 zimbabwe
   dollars (about 1,000 u.s. dollars) and nine heads of cattle as
   lobola (dowry).

   mable's body may remain in the mortuary for weeks while the
   two families haggle over the lobola.

[[[[[         Stuff Deleted          ]]]]]

This article has a lot of good points.  Unfortunately it also has
quite a bit of misleading information (IMHO of course).  What I see as
the major flow of this article is to indicate the premise of some of
these payements which some families are demanding:  The reason for all
the confusion in the first place  is when a guy starts a family with
someone's daughter without going through the proper channels of asking
the girls hand in marriage.  The moment someone does this they have
taken the ultimate responsibility for the well being of the lady.
	In Zimbabwe there are many forms of asking the girl's hand for
marriage.  Not all of them are very expensive, of course some of them
are more prestigeous than others.  By going through the right and
affordable marriage channels one can avoid all this confusion in the
event of death. 
	The other juncture at which reperations can be made is when
the lady gives birth to the first child.  It is unheard of for someone
to not give  birth to their first baby at the lady's mother's place.
So in the above case reperations were most probably not made at this
stage and this is another slap in the face to the inlaws. 
	Why did the guy above not go ahead and bury the wife.  Well it
is because he was afraid of the evil spirits, bad luck and the likes
which were going to befall him.  If he had done his marriage properly
he did not have to worry about all this.  In my own opinion this trap
is of one's own making.  The guys involved are very shortsighted.  I
am not saying I favor the amounts of money being charged or that I
favour people not recieving a decent burial but then this is a crime
which is very personal.  Rovora(lobola/Dowry) is an agreement between
two families and therefore the charges are bound to vary.  As a result
the amounts charged for side-stepping this custom can also be very
steep and can vary a lot.
	Should the government legistate all these issues, I say no.
As I said if families are not understanding there are numerous other
ways which are far less expensive of getting married properly.
	Hope this cleared some hazy points from the original article
:))))

Ndiyoyo,
--
<><><><><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><<>><>
                             | VANDERBILT COMMODORE BBALL
Gilford T. Hapanyengwi       |  Ents                [19][19]
gilford@vuse.vanderbilt.edu  |  14-3                 AP  USA
hapanyg@vuctrvax.bitnet      |  Entwives      [1] [1]
(615) 322-3552               |  15-0          USA  AP








Xref: sparky soc.culture.african:7791 soc.culture.asean:9199 soc.culture.caribbean:2066 soc.culture.czecho-slovak:671 soc.culture.esperanto:2459 soc.culture.german:10112 soc.culture.filipino:4623 soc.culture.japan:13962 soc.culture.magyar:997 soc.culture.singapore:334 alt.fan.disney.afternoon:293 rec.arts.disney:8741 soc.culture.china:34947