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Gibson Mhaka
“SHE drinks a lot and her drunken behaviour makes our once happy marriage more precarious than ever”.
This is how an Insiza-based businessman Christopher Ndlovu apparently justifies beating up his wife.
He told a Bulawayo court that he has been married to Matilda Ndlovu for 36 years and her drunken behaviour was now contributing to their marital problems.
A seemingly fed up Matilda failed to tolerate her husband’s aggressive behaviour anymore when she approached the court seeking a restraining order against him.
“I am married to Christopher Ndlovu in terms of the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11. My husband is violent and has beaten me up several times since 1992. He physically assaulted me whenever we had a marital dispute.
“Sometime last year he severely assaulted me and I sustained a broken arm and he never assisted me to get medication. I have never known peace in my marriage.
“The abuse is now worse as he is now denying me access to the bedroom as he suspects that I want to poison him. He also sells our matrimonial property without my consent and converts the money into his own use,” complained Matilda.
In response, Christopher accused his wife of having an alcohol problem saying that was creating a lot of tension and upset in their marriage.
“We have been married for 36 years and the problem with my wife is that she is a drunkard. Whenever she is drunk she does not come home and she also becomes violent and beats up people, including me. The other time she went for three days drunk,” responded Christopher.
He insisted that drinking had literally taken over his wife’s life.
His response didn’t go down well with the presiding magistrate Tinashe Tashaya who said he should not use his wife’s drunken behaviour to justify his abusive behaviour.
“She is your wife, not your maid so don’t economically abuse her,” charged the magistrate before he ordered him not to sell any matrimonial property without his wife’s consent, adding that in case that he disposes any property his wife should get half of the proceeds.
The magistrate also ordered both parties not to insult, assault and emotionally abuse each other.
derick.khumalo