adminWalter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
A GUTU man who committed adultery with a neighbour’s two wives has been slapped with a hefty penalty.
Chief Serima convicted Atkinson Guvava, 34, of the crime adultery and fined him six head of cattle. Guvava, of Village 3, Vitcom, denied the charge when he appeared before Chief Serima last week but was convicted due to overwhelming evidence.
The chief ordered him to pay six beasts for having adulterous affairs with Bernard Tevera’s two wives.
Unhappy with the chief’s ruling, Guvava appealed to the Gutu Magistrate’s Court, which upheld the traditional leader’s judgement and actually escalated the punishment.
Magistrate Nyasha Vhitorini ordered Guvava to pay an initial penalty of $180 and a beast before paying the six beasts at a later date.
Tevera had initially demanded eight beasts but the chief’s court reduced the demand as a precondition for him to accept his adulterous wives back.
Prosecutor Agatha Gabriel said: “On an unknown date between April, 2013 and May this year, Atkinson approached Tevera’s two wives and proposed love to them separately. The two are said to have accepted the proposal thereby opening avenues for unending escapades.”
He said the matter came to light when Tevera “stumbled on a love letter addressed to one of his wives”. This angered Tevera and he sent both wives packing before suing Atkinson at Chief Serima’s court.”
derick.khumalo