Hubby sleeps with axe, spear under bed

Gibson Mhaka
A Bulawayo woman is reportedly sleeping with one eye open like a crocodile because her husband threatened to kill her in her sleep.

Lucy Sibanda from Emakhandeni suburb said she was living in fear of her husband Edward Sibanda, an ex-combatant who sleeps with an axe and spear under his side of the bed.

Lucy pleaded with a Bulawayo magistrate Sheunesu Matova sitting at the civil court to protect her from her violent husband by granting an order that bars him from threatening her.

a�?We have been married since 1994 and he is always threatening me. Every time we go to bed he brings an axe and spear into the bedroom which he keeps under the bed.

a�?He is using that axe to threaten me whenever we have domestic disputes. He is also in the habit of physically assaulting me with the latest incident being on 2 June.

a�?On the day in question I did not sleep in the bedroom after I reported him to the police as I was afraid that he would strike me with an axe which he at times keeps behind our bedroom door.

a�?I no longer feel safe and I am afraid that he might live true to his threats,a�? said Sibanda.

Lucy further said her husband, as a way of a�?fixinga�? her, confiscated their marriage certificate, childrena��s birth certificates and her bank card.

However, Edward denied the allegations and despite that, presiding magistrate granted an order which bars him from harassing or threatening his wife in any way.