Serious tension as coffin ‘refuses’ to be buried at a burial

Serious tension as coffin ‘refuses’ to be buried at a burial

There was pandemonium in the Chilombo area of Kaoma District in Mangango constituency 3Km across Luena River on the Kaoma-Kasempa Trunk Road, Zambia yesterday after a strange coffin was reported to have refused to be buried.

According to reports, drama started when the body arrived at the local New Apostolic Church for service in the morning in Chilombo area of Kaoma District in Mangango constituency.

[irp]

The coffin was reported to have refused burial in the traditional practice known to the Kaonde people as “Kikondo”

The coffin is said to have refused to enter the church building upon being removed from the canter and instead led its bearers to a house and plunged it through the window breaking glass panes and lodged inside the house.

The police were called to the scene as it was already getting intense and the villagers were being aggravated by the developing event. The police had to intervene by firing tear gas canisters to control the irate mob.

According to Kaoma District Commissioner, Kennedy Liale Mubanga, it took the reinforcement of soldiers who were led by the Battalion Commander from the 5ZR army barracks who went to retrieve the coffin and a forced burial was ordered by the DC in the afternoon.

The deceased is named Lilian Kanunga, female aged 47, unmarried of Kalyangu village in the same area.

[irp]

This is according to a press statement made available to Radio Cheke FM News by Kaoma District Commissioner, Kennedy Liale Mubanga today.

This sounds like a scene from a movie, but it is an incident that has been reported in different part of Africa.

In a similar occurrence that happened in May 2017 in a Zambian village, a corpse refused to be buried until it led villagers to the house of its killer.

An official with the Zambia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hagra Tembo, shared the video on his Facebook wall.

Tembo wrote:

“A body refused to be buried until it took villagers to a house where the person behind the death of the deceased resides.”

[irp]

In the video, the villagers were all shocked when undertakers were being controlled by the corpse who turned them round until it led them to its killer’s house.