Nyamandlovu man assaulted over hat

Wilbrought Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter

THREE man from Nyamandlovu were recently arrested after they assaulted a fellow villager with logs following an argument over a hat.

Bongani Nyoni (19), Russel Mbewe (22) and Felix Nyoni (44) appeared at Bulawayo Regional Court before magistrate Mrs Vivian Ndlovu facing charges of assault as defined in section 89(1) (a) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23. The three are all in custody and will appear in court on 2 October for continuation of trial.

State case as presented by prosecutor Ms Constance Mhlanga was that on 24 August 2023 at around 7pm, the complainant, Hlanganani Dube was in the company of his friend Maxwell Moyo when they met one of the accused Bongani. A misunderstanding arose between Bongani and Moyo over the latter’s hat.

After the misunderstanding Bongani then left and appeared later with the other two accused persons armed with logs and knobkerrie. Moyo fled leaving behind Dube and the accused persons began to assault him with logs and knobkerrie all over his body. After the assault the accused person fled and the complainant went and reported the matter leading to the accused persons being arrested.

Bongani and Mbewe pleaded not guilty claiming that they did not assault Dube but they were in an argument that led to them fighting each other.

They said that they did not hit the accused person with logs. The other accused, Felix who is Bongani’s father claimed he was not part of the fight but he reprimanded them against fighting but was surprised on the day he was arrested that he was one of the people who assaulted the complainant.