adminMidlands Reporter
AN arsonist from Lower Gweru who burnt down his grandmother’s four huts alleging that she insulted his deceased mother will spend the next one-and-a-half years in prison for his actions. Cuthbert Ndlela, 27, of Mugwagwa Village under Chief Sogwala in Lower Gweru appeared before magistrate Judith Taruvinga on Wednesday facing charges of malicious damage to property. He pleaded guilty.
Ndlela was sentenced to an effective 18 months imprisonment.
When asked by the court why he had committed such a crime, Ndlela said he was fed up hearing his grandmother insult his late mother and wanted to fix her.
“Your worship I was angry with my grandmother. On many times I politely asked her about my father but she ended up insulting my now deceased mother. She would refer me to my mother’s grave telling me to go there and ask her about my father. That is a thing which we all know to be impossible,” said Ndlela.
It is the State’s case that on 11 March this year Ndlela asked his grandmother about the whereabouts of his father.
The court heard that Ndlela grew up in a broken family and never had the chance to meet his father.
His grandmother told him to go and ask his mother who passed on some years ago. The two started insulting each other as tempers flared. After the quarrel, Ndlela went to the shops and came back around midnight threatening to kill everyone at the homestead.
All his relatives had to flee and took refuge at a neighbour’s homestead.
The court heard that Ndlela proceeded to set fire on all his grandmother’s four huts, destroying property worth $2,000.
A report was made at the police at Maboleni Police base leading to his arrest. Daniel Tafuma prosecuted.
Online Reporter