Bed-hopper weeps in court

. Gibson Mhaka
TEARS are really the silent language of grief!

Such was the case at the Bulawayo Civil Court when a man failed to hold back his tears after his wife sought separation from him claiming he was a�?verya�? abusive and a a�?seriala�? bed-hopper.

Tababili Malikongwa shed tears after his wife Nomagugu Moyo, who was seeking a protection order, told the court that she wanted him barred from coming to her workplace because she was no longer interested in him.

Moyo, a teacher at Zibungululu Primary School in Tsholotsho, Matabeleland North Province, told presiding magistrate Sheunesu Matova that her husband had made her life horrible with his a�?cruel behavioura�? and his a�?excessive desire for sexa�?.

She also alleged that his abusive behaviour had made it difficult for her to live together with him under one roof.

a�?I have been married to Tababili Malikongwa since 2006 and we have two children together. Tababili is having extra-marital affairs. Sometimes he disappears from home and when he returns he starts abusing me in front of our children.A� He spends most of the time with other women and that shows that he no longer loves me. I want the court to stop him from coming to my workplace and bothering me as Ia��m not his wife anymore.

a�?Tababili also forces me to have unprotected sexual intercourse with him yet he would be coming from his girlfriends. Whenever I try to resist, he would abuse me following which I would succumb to his pressure and persistent demands,a�? explained a heartbroken Moyo.

In response, Malikongwa did not dispute his wifea��s accusations before he asked for forgiveness while shedding tears, apparently to court the magistratea��s mercy.

a�?I do not deny what my wife has told this court and I want her to forgive me. I do not want her to dissolve our marriage because of girlfriends. It will be difficult for my children to live without the other parent,a�? he said while struggling to wipe tears which were running down his cheeks.

Malikongwaa��s tears were, however, in vain when the magistrate granted Moyoa��s application in which he sternly ordered him to stop verbally abusing her, or force her to engage in sexual intercourse without protection as well as not to visit her work place. The couple was also referred for counselling.