STAFF WRITER
A 35-YEAR-OLD Zimbabwean man has taken his own life after his two wives violently protested his plans to marry a third woman, in a case that has highlighted domestic tensions under polygynous marriages.
Brighton Mhungu, from the Tsvingwe suburb of the eastern mining town of Penhalonga, died on Monday evening following a fierce argument with his wives, Bridget and Brenda Nhopore.
According to Manicaland provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Wiseman Chinyoka, the confrontation began shortly after 7.40pm when Mhungu announced his intention to bring another wife into the family home.
“The argument degenerated into a violent confrontation, with Mhungu assaulting the two [wives] before threatening to commit suicide,” said Chinyoka. “He then drank a potent poison in their presence.”
Police reports describe how Mhungu then got into his blue Honda Fit and drove roughly a kilometre away, before parking on the roadside. His body was later discovered by a 54-year-old relative, Benson Nhopore, who found the car doors open and Mhungu unresponsive inside.
Polygyny – the practice of a man having multiple wives – remains legal under customary law in Zimbabwe and is still practised in some communities, though it frequently leads to familial disputes and economic strain.
Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death.
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