• Story originally published by •'Evil Spirits' Haunt African Family
A Lusaka family in Matero[Zambia] is spending nights in the cold running away from mysterious fires and other unexplained happenings in their home.The family on Tuesday decided to seek refuge at Matero police station where the haunting followed them as window panes in the office of the officer-in-charge were suddenly pelted with stones from unseen throwers.
A check by a Times team yesterday found the family outside their home with scores of other people watching them.
As onlookers were trying to find out what was happening, two stones yesterday were allegedly hurled from somewhere in the roof of the haunted house sending everybody scampering in all directions. The stones did not however land on anybody.
Owner of the house Ireen Simbeya, said the incidents started in January this year when her daughter who was staying with her aunt in the same area dreamed that she had been taken to the graveyard by unknown people. Later her daughter collapsed the following day after the terrible dream.
"I was forced to withdraw her from her aunt's place so that I could observe her as I suspected her to have little blood in her body. But the mysteries continued and we were left puzzled and we did not know what to do next," Mrs Simbeya said.
The suspected evil spirits persisted haunting them with fires and pelting of stones forcing them to abandon the house. The evil spirits threatened to burn any one who entered their house, she said.
Christabel Nambela, 15, who foretold the whole mystery was the most haunted. She said she could see strange people dressed in black clothes.
Christabel said the same evil spirits troubled her very much and threatened that they would continue haunting the home until a life of one of them or any one else was claimed. The girl was forced to stop school last year in grade nine because of the continued haunting.
On Wednesday the family was visited by church members who conducted services at the same place but after they had left, pandemonium broke out again.
Police spokesman Lemmy Kajoba yesterday said that the suspected ghosts had for the past three months haunted the family.
He said the family later abandoned the office and went back to their house where the ghosts pelted the hapless father with stones and are living outside the house.
Meanwhile the family has appealed for financial and spiritual aid from well-wishers to help them start again after their property was burnt to ashes.
