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Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma, the Zimbabwean-born man accused of killing his wife and two daughters in the United Kingdom, is facing extradition proceedings after being arrested in South Africa, as grieving relatives, friends and community members gathered in Zimbabwe on Tuesday to bid farewell to the victims.
Tshuma, 45, was arrested in Johannesburg last month following a joint operation involving Interpol and South African police after allegedly fleeing the U.K. He is also facing a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm in South Africa after police said he was found with an unlicensed gun they believe he intended to use to take his own life. South African courts are expected to consider a request for his extradition to the U.K., where he faces murder charges.
British police said the bodies of Nothabo Zandile Tshuma, 42, and her daughters, Natalie, 15, and Nala, 5, were discovered at their home near Bedford, north of London, on July 7 after concerned relatives reported they had been unable to contact the family.
An inquest later found that all three died from head injuries.
On Tuesday, mourners gathered at a church in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, where the mother and her daughters were laid to rest in white coffins.
Addressing the congregation, family spokesperson Theophilus Khumalo described the family’s overwhelming loss.
“Their departure has created a silence so deep that only the voice of God can comfort it,” Khumalo said, describing the two girls as “God’s little flowers.”
He added that their mother had always hoped to see her daughters grow into “confident, educated and God-loving young women.”
The family had earlier described the tragedy as “an unbearably painful journey.”
The killings have drawn widespread attention in the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe and neighbouring South Africa, with many expressing shock over the deaths and following the legal proceedings against Tshuma as authorities work to return him to the U.K. to stand trial.
