Prophet Drowns During Cleansing Ceremony, Family Blames Mermaids

 

A self-proclaimed prophet in Zimbabwe drowned during a cleansing ceremony last Wednesday, but his family is confident he will come back.
Simbarashe Kamupondera, 31, was at the Ruwa River in Epworth praying for a female congregant when he was swept away by the water’s current
For what it's worth, his family believes that Kamupondera is still alive and was abducted by mermaids.

“Simbarashe came to stay with us a month ago. He has been telling us that he had a spirit of a mermaid,” Magma Mutingwende, Simbarashe’s sister-in-law said. “He also said that a prophet had prayed for a cloth that he gave him to always tie when getting into the waters.”
Mutingwende recalled the moment Simbarashe was swept away.
“We realized that he needed help when he started saying come and get but when we tried to swim to where he was, he was submerged in water,” she said.
The family will not be mourning Simbarashe because they believe he was taken by a mermaid and they know he will come back, Mutingwende said.
Simbarashe had two children and often went to river banks to baptize people. Mutingwende and a group of people stayed at the river until sundown.
“We have not told his wife as yet and we know that he is coming back,” she added.
This isn’t the first time mermaids have been blamed for an abduction. A 12-year-old boy went missing by the Sabie River in Mpummalanga on Dec. 31. His family believed a mermaid took him, but would release him in time for school after performing rituals on him.