dyton mupawaenda
WHEN Tanaka Tamayi was viciously assaulted by a mob, in a gang attack outside a Harare nightclub on the morning of January 27 this year, he lost two of his teeth.
What had been a family gathering, where Tanaka was celebrating his birthday, turned into a nightmare for the student when he ended up being bashed by three men.
Businessman Blessing “Boss JB” Charakupa, who is the owner of Club Zone in Machipisa, was fingered as being one of the three people who attacked Tanaka.
That is what the student told the police when he filed his report that same day.
The official police documents show that Tanaka was leaving Habhana Lounge, where the party had been held, when he saw his brother Ronald fighting with a certain man.
Tanaka managed to restrain the two men and Ronald drove away from the scene.
However, according to the police report, as Tanaka was about to leave the parking lot outside the nightclub, the gang blocked his exit using a car.
Boss JB, according to the reports, disembarked from his car and charged towards Takana, opened the driver’s door where the complainant was seated and hit him on the mouth with his fist.
Two other people, who were with Boss JB, were also reported to have taken turns to assault the student, according to the police reports.
Tanaka sustained a cut on the lip and two broken teeth, he was referred to hospital for medical examinations and a medical affidavit was supplied.
Another man, who is related to Tanaka, was also viciously assaulted by this gang and also filed his police report.
The case was first taken to Epworth Magistrates Court before it was switched to the Harare Magistrates Court where the trial of Boss JB and his accomplices was supposed to start yesterday.
However, the case was again postponed to October 10.
Boss JB is not guilty of the offence and neither are any of his accomplices.
That is for the courts to decide and the process, after some lengthy delays, has now started.
The lengthy delays might have made Tanaka feel that the country’s justice system does not protect people like him and he might, at some point, have lost confidence in the system.
We understand his frustrations and his feeling that, as a mere student, he does not carry the same weight, in terms of influence, as a businessman who, among other things, runs a top night club in Harare.
But, yesterday’s events at the Harare Magistrates Courts should provide him with the assurance that the country’s justice system protects everyone, including students like himself.
The wheels might grind slowly but it doesn’t mean that the system doesn’t work.
Boss JB, and his accomplices, are just suspects right now and they have a right to defend themselves against all these accusations being labelled against them.
That’s the beauty of the law.
It protects everyone, including those who are being accused of doing something unlawful.
Online Reporter