Online Reporter
Moreblessing Ncube
WHAT started as a simple squabble over a noisy TV ended with fists flying, hair yanking, teeth sinking into flesh and a heavily pregnant woman in court.
A pregnant Ntandokayise (29), a Bulawayo resident from Romney Park, found herself in the dock after being accused of assaulting her co-tenant Delight Tatenda Ncube. And all this because someone didn’t like the volume on the telly.
According to Ntandokayise, she was just having a chill night watching TV with her son when Delight, apparently irritated by the sound, began switching the electricity on and off like she was playing a game of musical chairs with the power supply.
“I was watching TV with my son when Delight kept switching the power off and on. I asked her why, and she said the TV was making too much noise. When I asked her to help adjust the volume, she refused. I tried to switch the power back on and that is when she snapped,” she told the court.
Prosecutor Mehluli Ndlovu told the court that Ntandokayise pounced on Delight with a storm of open-handed strikes, fists and even a bite to the hand. Hair was pulled, tempers exploded and the argument over a TV ended in a visit to the police and a trip to United Bulawayo Hospitals for medical treatment.
However, Ntandokayise insisted that she was the one who had been shoved first, right into the corner of an electric stove, and that she only reacted out of fear, especially since she was expecting.
Her husband, who probably just wanted peace and a quiet night, stepped in to separate the two women but by then, the situation had spiralled beyond rescue.
In the end, Magistrate Maxwell Ncube found Ntandokayise not guilty and cleared her of the assault charge.
A loud TV, a flicked switch and now a courtroom clearance. All in a night’s work at Romney Park.
