Online Reporter
Spiwe Sarakunze
Herald Reporter
A HARARE pastor has approached the court seeking a protection order against his daughter who is addicted to drugs.
Pr Eliot Madede of AFM Church accused his daughter Merlisa Madede of physically and verbally abusing him and damaging property.
“She beats me whenever she takes drugs. My daughter always returns home at odd hours, and as a father, l am failing to reprimand her as she ends up slapping me,” said Pr Madede.
He broke into tears before the court while narrating how he single-handedly raised his daughter after his wife died when she was still young.
Pr Madede said all their neighbours knew he lived like a servant in his own house due to his daughter’s deviance.
The man of the cloth said at times the daughter brought men home and shout at him, blaming him for her mother’s death.
He told the court that his daughter takes all kinds of drugs during the day and at night breaks household property, singing vulgar songs in front of him.
Pr Madede said the problem started when she got employed at a boutique where she made many friends.
“I know it is my duty as a father to control my child, but at this point I am powerless, that is why l am here,” he said “She calls me by my name and even points a finger at me, claiming that if l continue to try and stop her, she will hire thugs to kill me,” he testified.
Pr Madede mentioned incidents where Merlisa followed him to church, even outside Harare, to announce to his congregants that he was a fake pastor and useless.
The pastor said that, at times, he goes away to find a peaceful place but when he returns home, his daughter beats him like a child.
Merlisa denied the allegations saying her father forces her to go to church while she likes clubbing with her friends.
“He must treat me like an adult so that l will be able to respect him,” she said.
She told the court that she follows her father to church because he leaves her without food at home.
Her father, she said, was the one who was abusing her.
However, the court ruled in favour of Pr Madede.
Presiding magistrate Ms Meenal Narotam warned Merlisa to refrain from physically and verbally abusing her father as well as destroying and damaging his property.
Ms Narotam told her that she was now an adult who should be fending for herself instead of expecting to get all her needs from her father.
