Online Reporter
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Reporter
THE horrifying footage of a 27-year-old woman (name withheld) viciously assaulting her 11-year-old daughter — whose hands and legs she had tied — has ignited national outrage and exposed the violent tendencies of a woman long feared by those closest to her.
The disturbing video, secretly recorded by a former daughter-in-law, has peeled back the veil on years of alleged abuse that had remained hidden behind closed doors.
Its circulation has prompted villagers in Mount Zonwe, Marange, to speak openly about the woman’s volatile temper; describing her punishments of children as extreme.
Her threats had increasingly becoming alarming in recent months, they added.
When The Manica Post crew visited the area on Monday, close relatives painted a picture of a woman whose cruelty extended far beyond the incident captured on the video. They revealed that her violent temper had simmered for months, known only to family members until now.
In an interview, her sister-in-law, Ms Desire Marindire, said the abuse had been ongoing, but had largely remained concealed.
She recounted one particularly chilling incident in which the woman allegedly assaulted her two minor daughters — the 11-year-old and a six-year-old — stripping them naked and hanging the younger child by one leg from a kitchen utensils drying stall (dara) after they refused to wash dirty dishes.
The revelations have intensified calls for justice and intervention, with community members demanding stronger protection for vulnerable children and prosecution for perpetrators of domestic abuse.
“The two children told me about the abuse after they were dumped at my homestead by their mother. They told me that their mother had instructed them never to tell anyone – not even their father or friends – about the beatings. I am sure that is why they remained mum up to now. Had it not been for the video, I do not think this abuse would have stopped. That is just how she is. She is very violent,” she said.
Ms Marindire said her sister-in-law dumped her four minor children with her, and she stayed with them for two months.
“I was tending my fields when she came with all her children and accused me of being close to her husband. She dumped the kids with me, and I stayed with them for two months. That is when the children told me they felt better off with me because they were subjected to severe beatings by their mother,” said Ms Marindire.
Ms Marindire said the children lived in fear, conditioned to silence by their mother’s threats.
True to Marindire’s words, the woman’s husband of 12 years, said his children never reported any acts of abuse to him, and he feared they were conditioned to silence by their mother.
He confirmed that he was also a victim of his wife’s violent behaviour.
“I am also a victim of her physical assaults. I had, however, not seen her beating the children, perhaps because I am always away at work. I think the children were threatened not to disclose the abuse to me. My wife is short-tempered, but I was shocked when I saw the video circulating. I confronted her and she apologised, saying she did not know what had gotten over her,” he said.
His younger brother, Edmore Mupingo, speculated that a bad spirit may have influenced his sister-in-law’s actions.
“Yes, she used to have problems with our brother, her husband, but not to this extent of venting her anger on her own child. At one time, she uprooted two of his dreadlocks, and my brother said it was very painful. Sometimes she would threaten to commit suicide,” he added.
The woman’s mother, Mrs Agnes Mutsanza, defended her daughter, insisting that indiscipline levels had reached unprecedented levels among her grandchildren.
“My daughter told me that my granddaughter had sneaked into her bedroom through the window, and stole US$10, snacks and biscuits. Her little sister told her mother what had happened some days later. This angered my daughter, resulting in her beating the child,” said Mutsanza.
However, Mrs Mutsanza also criticised the severity of the assault captured on the video.
“When the video became viral, I sat my daughter down, and told her she overdid it. Yes, we discipline our children, but not to that extent,” she said.
She dismissed claims that her six-year-old granddaughter was assaulted while naked and hanging from a dara, insisting: “It is a lie. My daughter does not beat her children. She does not want anyone to touch them as well. They are her close friends,” she said.
Meanwhile, the woman’s brother, painted a starkly different picture, corroborating claims of a violent and short-tempered character.
“My sister is short-tempered to the point that she sometimes faints because of the anger boiling inside her. It was not a surprise when this video surfaced. I do not know who leaked it, but it was in my phone as my ex-wife shot it. I told her that her heart was as dark as the video of the person beating her own child while tying her legs. That was very bad, and I do not condone it. Both of them acted in connivance,” he said.
The Marange woman has since appeared before Mutare provincial magistrate, Ms Annie Ndiraya, pleading guilty to ill-treatment and neglect of her child, as defined under Section 7(1) of the Child Protection Act, Chapter 05.06.
She was convicted on her own guilty plea.
According to prosecutor, Mr Thurston Mubvumbi, the assault occurred in July when the child refused to wash dishes.
“The mother followed her 11-year-old daughter and apprehended her at a distance of about 100 metres. She tied her hands and legs with torn cloths and assaulted her with a sjambok several times all over the body. The girl sustained swollen back, legs, and face, and was not medically examined,” he said.
She was sentenced to community service, where she will work at Chinyamutsetse Primary School for six months.
