Stepmother gets protection order

The matter has spilled into the courts

Spiwe Sarakunze-Herald Reporter

THE Civil Court on Thursday granted a protection order in favour of a Harare woman who accused her stepchildren of assaulting her.

Mrs Helema Tsongora told the court that her stepchildren, Tafara Tsongora and Liah Tsongora, assaulted and threatened to evict her from her matrimonial house.

“I was assaulted by my stepchildren and they were telling me to leave the house with immediate effect,” she said.

Mrs Tsongora told the court that she reported the matter to the police after she was threatened with a knife.

In response, her stepson said they were acting on the advice of their father who allegedly discovered that his wife had forged papers for the house.

“My father gave me and my sister house papers after he noticed that his wife wanted to transfer it into her name. We collected the papers and that is when our stepmother went straight to report claiming that we assaulted and threatened to evict her from the premises. Our father told us not to be violent with her,” he said.

The court was also informed that the applicant was in the habit of forging signatures of her husband to get everything.

“Our father loved us to an extent that he told us to keep all the documents safe for the future in the absence of his wife,” he said.

He accused his stepmother of trying to poison his father after forging signatures and documents, but she did not succeed.

It was also said that when she forged the documents, she had included the names of her own children.

The other respondent disputed the allegations, stating that she bore no grudge against her stepmother.

“l do not know her problem, nothing will change. Our father told us to come back home and stay while he is still alive since he noticed his wife’s behaviour towards his properties,” she said.

“She told the court that, her stepmother wanted to give their father’s property to her own children and failed,” she said.

However, after listing all facts, presiding magistrate Ms Meenal Narotam granted an order in favour of the applicant and warned the respondents against assaulting their stepmother.