adminSukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
A 46-YEAR-OLD Bulilima man has been fined $20 for calling his 14 year-old daughter a slut and using other vulgar words.
Plumtree magistrate Gideon Ruvetsa has also ordered the man to apologise to his daughter, for the incident that happened last week.Mthabisi Nleya accused his 65-year-old mother of encouraging her granddaughter to sleep with countless men and labelled her a slut.
Nleya made the accusations after hearing rumours that his daughter was in a relationship with a boy from the same village.
He confronted the girl on June 8, but she denied having any affair with the boy.
Nleya then insulted her and accused the girl’s grandmother of misleading his daughter whose mother passed away some time ago.
Prosecuting, Medica Tshuma said: “Nleya insulted the complainant who is his daughter using abusive language saying if her vagina was open she should go and stay with her mother’s relatives. He also accused his daughter of sleeping with men.
“Nleya suspected his daughter to be in a love affair with a certain boy in the village after getting reports that the two had been seen together on several occasions,” said Tshuma.
The prosecutor said the minor felt insulted and degraded and as a result she ran away from home and started staying with a neighbour.
The girl’s grandmother told the court that her son frequently ill-treated his daughter.
“She has always been staying with me ever since her mother passed away when she was two years old. Her father abandoned her and has never wanted to assume responsibility for his child.
“It is only recently that he came from Botswana and took her in but she is always running away from home because of the harsh treatment she gets from her father. He insulted her in my presence by accusing her of sleeping with countless men,” she said.
Plumtree magistrate Gideon Ruvetsa advised Nleya, who made an excuse that he was correcting his daughter, to seek advice on proper parenting.
“You might have been correcting your daughter but you should have done it in a proper way. These words that you uttered to your daughter are not the words that can be expected from a parent, let alone someone of your age.
“Insulting someone in the first place is an offence especially when you do it in manner that may degrade someone,” said Ruvetsa.
He ordered Nleya to pay a $20 fine or spend seven days in prison. The magistrate also ordered him to apologise to his daughter.
Online Reporter