adminTinashe Hazvide
IN a world that is advocating for gender equality and shunning of domestic violence, a Greenside man in Mutare risked his liberty by bashing his heavily pregnant wife over a text message from her brother.
Appearing before senior Mutare magistrate Mrs Sekai Chiundura, Charles Kamunhenga (27) of Number 12, Coil, Greenside, pleaded guilty to the charges he was facing of physical abuse as defined in Section 4 of the Domestic Violence Act, Chapter 5.16.
It was the State’s case led by prosecutor Mr Douglas Matiure that on March 21, Kamunhenga, arrived home and had a misunderstanding with his wife, Fatima Fashi.
“Kamunhenga told his wife that the house maintenance standards need an improvement because she was now becoming lazy.
“Before Fashi could respond, she received a text message from her brother which she responded to before she could answer Kamunhenga.
“This did not go well with Kamunhenga who thought that she was ignoring him and he assaulted her all over her body despite the fact that she is heavily pregnant.
“The complianant sustained injuries and a swollen face and was medically examined,” said Mr Matiure.
In his defence, Kamunhenga said he was angered by the fact that she had ignored him.
“I was angered by the fact that she ignored me while I was talking to her. I know what I did was wrong and had no right to do that,” said Kamunhenga.
Mrs Chiundura warned Kaunhenga that he should stop treating his wife as a punching bag but rather treat her as a human being.
“You should have considered that she is pregnant before beating her. Even if she was not pregnant, you had no right to assault her because she is not a punching bag,” said Mrs Chiundura. He was ordered to pay a fine of $100 on or before April 1 or face 60 days imprisonment.
Online Reporter