Online Reporter
Gibson Mhaka
IN a fit of jealousy, a 26-year-old man from Shale Village in Esigodini, Matabeleland South province, who has been cohabiting with a 15-year-old girl for about three months, was arrested after he physically assaulted her with a burning log, due to his suspicion that she was seeing boys of her age.
This was heard when Tendai Mkandla was arraigned before Esigodini magistrate Ms Menelisi Linda, facing two counts of physical abuse and having sexual intercourse with a minor.
Mkandla pleaded guilty and was remanded in custody to September 4 for a plea recording.
The State case, as presented by prosecutor Mr Victor Gorejena, was that on an unspecified date but sometime in June 2025, at Capital block village, Colleen Bawn, the accused proposed love to the complainant and she accepted the proposal.
The court heard that later in the same month, the accused invited the complainant to his house, and she agreed.
The two then left Capital block village and relocated to Shale village in Esigodini, where they started cohabiting and engaging in consensual sexual intercourse.
The accused and the complainant continued to have consensual sexual intercourse on numerous occasions.
On August 22, 2025, while the two were returning from a garden, some boys whistled at them.
In a fit of jealousy, Mkandla accused the complainant of being in a relationship with the boys.
The complainant repeatedly denied the allegations, which angered the accused, who went on to assault her with a wooden stick several times all over her body and with a piece of firewood that had fire on the head.
The matter was reported to the police, leading to Mkandla’s arrest and his subsequent appearance in court.
The complainant was referred to a hospital for medical examination and treatment.
