adminSukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
A 23-YEAR-OLD Mangwe man flew into a rage and torched his elder brother’s bedroom hut damaging R15,000 worth of property after the latter gave him a small portion of food.Tinashe Moyo of Embakwe area has been sentenced to an effective six months in prison for destroying property belonging to Donald Moyo, 26.
Tinashe torched his brother’s hut in the middle of the night while he was sleeping forcing him to dash out of the burning hut half naked.
He told the court that his elder brother had a tendency of depriving him of an equal portion of food just because he was the bread winner.
Tinashe said his brother didn’t appreciate that he remained at home performing all household chores.
“My brother is always abusing me just because I stay under his roof and because he’s the one who buys the food. He expects me to do all the cooking and other house chores but in return he gives me a small portion of food.
“He’s always giving me little food and telling me that I’ve to find a job and buy my own food,” said Tinashe.
He said he did the cooking but his brother always insisted on dishing the food. As a result he was fed up with his brother’s ill treatment and torching his homestead was a way of teaching him a lesson.
Tinashe said on the day of the incident, he cooked food as usual and his brother gave him a small portion of food which infuriated him.
Donald, however, denied starving his brother.
He said his brother was lazy.
Donald told the court his younger brother didn’t want to get a job.
Prosecuting, Jane Phiri said on September 13 at around 8PM, the complainant and his brother were at their homestead having a meal when they started arguing over the sharing of food.
Tinashe then left his brother’s homestead and later returned in the middle of the night and torched his brother’s hut using a cigarette stub.
As Donald fled from the burning hut, Phiri said, he saw his younger brother disappearing into the bush.
The complainant together with his neighbours tried to put out the fire but their efforts were in vain.
She said Tinashe fled from the complainant’s homestead and was arrested recently upon his return to apologise to Donald for his actions.
Plumtree magistrate Gideon Ruvetsa sentenced Tinashe to nine months in prison and suspended three months for five years on condition that he does not within the same period commit an offence of a similar nature.
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