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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Plumtree Correspondent
A BULILIMA man will spend the next three months in jail for whipping his eleven-month-old baby with an electric cord and kicking him for crying.
Dumisani Nkomo (29) of Figtree was ordered to pay a $300 fine or spend three months in prison but he failed to raise the money.
He was also sentenced to six months imprisonment which was wholly suspended on condition he does not commit a similar offence within the next five years.
Nkomo was convicted on his own plea of guilty to physical abuse by Plumtree magistrate Mr Taurai Manwere.
He told the court that he opted to beating up the infant as he was continuously crying and distracting his mother from carrying out her chores.
“I beat up my child because he was constantly crying and disturbing his mother while we were working in the fields. I wanted to teach him a lesson so that he could stop crying and I thought it was part of parenting,” said Nkomo.
Prosecuting, Mrs Rose Sibanda said Nkomo assaulted his eleven month old son, Ngqabutho Nkomo several times on the back with an electric cord and kicked him on the head.
She said Nkomo’s wife Ms Sikhangezile Ncube reported the matter to the police.
“Nkomo was at home with his wife when his son started crying. Nkomo became irritated as the infant cried persistently. He started complaining that the baby was making noise and disrupting his wife from working in the fields.
“He took an electric cord and beat up the baby several times all over the body. Nkomo also kicked the baby on the head but his wife managed to pull him away before he could harm the baby further,” said Mrs Sibanda.
She said Ms Ncube reported the matter at Figtree Police Station resulting in her husband’s arrest.
Online Reporter