Chronicle Editor
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
A 54-year-old man from Matobo District in Matabeleland South Province has been sentenced to two years in jail for assaulting a 12-year-old neighbour’s son accusing him of harvesting his honey in the bush without his authority.
Dickson Ndlovu of Mazhayimbe Village, will, however, serve an effective one-year jail term after Kezi magistrate Mr Busani Sibanda suspended one year for five years on condition he is not within that period found guilty of an offence involving the use of force or violence on any person.
According to court papers, on 19 November lat year, Ndlovu assaulted the minor all over the body using a wooden log accusing him of harvesting his honey in a bushy without his authority. “On 19 November 2023 at around 4pm, the complainant was in the bushy area of Mazhayimbe Village with his friends, two minor friends where they were harvesting honey.
The accused person arrived and started accusing the complainant of stealing his honey. The complainant denied the allegations that is when the accused grabbed the complainant and assaulted him several times all over the body using a wooden log. “The complainant managed to escape and ran home where he narrated the ordeal to his father. The matter was reported to the police leading to the arrest of the accused person. The complainant was referred to the hospital for treatment and a medical affidavit was compiled,” reads the court papers.
Section 7 of the Children’s Act [Chapter 5:06] criminalises the ill-treatment, neglect, abandonment, assault of a young person by a parent or guardian of a child. Allowing or causing the child to be ill-treated or exposing him to such ill-treatment is also a criminal offence. @nyeve14
Bongani Ndlovu