Lovemore Kadzura
Weekender Reporter
A SECRET affair involving a married woman, her boyfriend and a suspicious husband was dramatically exposed at Chief Makoni’s community court, culminating in the lover being ordered to pay a beast in adultery damages.
The case pitted Irvine Shayamano against Godfrey Madzimure, whom he accused of engaging in an illicit relationship with his wife, Talent.
Shayamano said his suspicions were first aroused when his wife became unusually attached to her mobile phone, constantly exchanging messages and guarding the device with a password.
Determined to uncover the truth, he eventually gained access to the phone and stumbled upon messages that detailed what he described as a long-running romantic relationship between Talent and Madzimure.
Shayamano said the correspondence revealed that the affair had been going on for several months while he was away working in Harare.
He further alleged that during his absence, his wife regularly sent their children to collect money for relish from Madzimure.
“I started suspecting that my wife was up to something. She was always on her phone, even when I was sleeping beside her. She eventually put a password on it, which made me even more suspicious.
“I later found a way to access the phone and discovered that my wife and Madzimure were in a relationship,” he said.
Shayamano said he subsequently confronted the two over the affair.
“When I called Madzimure and tried to talk to him about the issue, he immediately hung up and switched off his phone,” he claimed.
Faced with screenshots allegedly proving the relationship, Talent initially denied the allegations, before later admitting to the affair and pleading for forgiveness.
Madzimure did not deny the relationship, but insisted that he had no knowledge that Talent was a married woman.
He said she had repeatedly presented herself as a divorcee and that even her children had reinforced that claim.
“I met this woman and we eventually fell in love. She told me that she was no longer married and had separated from her husband. Her children also said their mother was divorced,” said Madzimure.
He maintained that he never visited Talent’s homestead or went near where she lived because he feared his own wife would discover the relationship.
“I never knew she was still married,” he said.
Talent admitted misleading Madzimure about her marital status, claiming that problems in her marriage had pushed her into the relationship.
She accused Shayamano of being abusive and failing to provide adequate support for the family.
“I told Madzimure that I was not married because my husband and I were no longer staying together,” she said.
“My husband was abusive. There were times when he would chase me out of the house at night and I would sleep outside with the children. He was also not supporting us financially.”
After hearing submissions from all parties, Chief Makoni rejected Madzimure’s defence that he had been deceived into believing Talent was single.
The traditional leader ruled that the circumstances of the relationship pointed to someone who was fully aware that he was involved with a married woman.
Chief Makoni said Madzimure’s deliberate avoidance of Talent’s homestead undermined his claim of ignorance.
“It is cooked-up evidence that Talent told Madzimure that she was single. Madzimure knew that she was married, which is why he never went to her home,” ruled Chief Makoni.
“It is also difficult to believe that the children told him their mother was single.”
The court found Madzimure liable for adultery and ordered him to pay Shayamano one beast as damages.
He was also directed to cover litigation costs amounting to US$140.
Texts betray cheating wife
