Man douses house with petrol, tries to burn it

Laura Maposa

A HARARE woman has applied for a protection order against her suicidal husband.

Eva Marume accused her husband, Kudzai Tendai, of selling family property, assault and attempting to evict her from their matrimonial home.

She also accused him of forcing her to engage in unprotected sex with him, even though he has a chronic illness.

“My husband assaults me every time I ask him about where he was.

“He doesn’t stay at our matrimonial home but visits once a week. He doesn’t come home for a week and expects to find his share of food when he comes home unannounced.

“When we found out that he was HIV-positive, he started demanding to have kids and forcing me to have unprotected sex with him.

“When I refused, he beat me up so badly that I couldn’t walk.”

She added:

“At one point, he poured petrol in the house intending to burn it.

“He threatens me with death and I am now scared for my life.””

In defence, Kudzai said he married Eva, when she already had two kids, and he took care of them.

He said now that they are grown up, they gang up against him and beat him up in his house.

“I admit to assaulting her as a way of teaching her respect and for her to fear me.

“If I wanted to kill her, I could have married another wife,” he said.

Magistrate Rutendo Machingura granted the protection order in Eva’s favour.