dyton mupawaendaThe Herald, November 3, 1988
A MPHOENGS man who after returning from a beer drink set two huts on fire because he was annoyed with the supper his wife had prepared him, was on Tuesday jailed for four years by a regional magistrate in Bulawayo.
Difa Phuti (25) pleaded guilty and was convicted of attempted murder and arson. On September 9 this year, the court was told, Phuti returned home after a beer drink and found that his wife had cooked sadza and fish.
Phuti told her that he disliked the fish and the wife instead offered him goat’s milk as an alternative.
That annoyed him even more. The wife walked out of the kitchen and Phuti thinking that she had gone to their bedroom, set the thatched roof on fire and did the same to another adjoining hut in which his niece was sleeping with a small child.
The niece and the child managed to escape, but sustained some injuries. Phuti’s wife who at the time had gone to relieve herself, returned to find the huts on fire and tried in vain to put out the flames.
Property damaged in the blaze was worth $4 290. The magistrate, Mr Paddington Garwe, sentenced Phuti to four years in jail but conditionally suspended one year for five years.
Mr Jonathan Muganhu appeared for the State.
LESSONS FOR TODAY
Couples need to handle their domestic disputes in a rational manner instead of resorting to drastic measures. These days there are a lot of reports of spouses that resorted to domestic violence – maiming or even killing their spouses over domestic issues that can be easily resolved while others are simply trivial such as the case in the story above.
People, especially men need to keep their emotions in check especially after drinking alcohol. Alcohol can influence the imbiber to act irrationally, so it is important not to pick fights or agitate others.
Trivial matters in the home should be addressed when all parties’ minds are sober. The man in the story should have waited until the next day when he was sober to address the issue or alternatively should have suggested the type of relish that he wanted instead of the fish that had been prepared by his wife.
Online Reporter