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Chronicle Reporter

A HARARE family is searching for their sister and nephew who have reportedly gone missing under unclear circumstances.

The sister, Miriam Makani who is married to Buhera South legislator, Hon Joseph Chinotimba, is said to have gone missing together with her nephew, Russel Tadiwanashe Makani who is the son of her late brother Isaac Makani.

According to family source Miriam has been in a polygamous marriage with Chinotimba since 2015 but the marriage turned sour when it was discovered that she could not conceive.

Miriam Makani

“Our sister has been married to Chinotimba since 2015, in actual fact it was more of a forced marriage because Miriam was not interested but because of his influence and our tradition, our parents accepted a token from him which thus confirmed the marriage, I believe she was now the third wife to Chinotimba.

“Now, what complicated issues was that she was a known member of the MDC, which Chinotimba initially accepted but along the relationship he became increasingly abusive, imploring that she should defect and join the ruling Zanu-PF party,” said one of Miriam’s brothers who however declined to be named.

Miriam Makani

“Further, Chinotimba later discovered that Miriam could not conceived, which worsened her situation. She confided in us that he would beat her up, accusing her of not wanting to give him any children,” added the brother.

It is reported that on numerous occasions, Chinotimba would beat up Miriam accusing her of being a sellout.

“To be honest my sister wanted out of the relationship as Chinotimba would boast that he was untouchable and also on numerous occasions caused the arrest of our sibling. What pained us further was that this abuse was now extending to out nephew, Russel as at school he was being subjected to numerous abuse.

“Now both Miriam and Russel have gone missing, we do not even know where they are, whether Chinotimba is responsible for the disappearance or her activities within the MDC. We thus are appealing to anyone who might have any information on their whereabouts to assist us, we have had no joy with the police hence us approaching the media as a last resort,” said the brother.