Online Reporter
Peter Matika, [email protected]
A 62-year-old man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing his wife with a hoe.
Ndabayezulu Ncube, from Nsimbi Village under Chief Nhlamba, Guyu in Gwanda, attacked his wife, Nokuthula Khumalo, on June 19, 2017.
The incident occurred after she ridiculed him for being “weak” in bed, comparing him to an alleged lover she had found, before refusing to be intimate with him.
Ncube struck her twice in the face with the hoe at their home.
The sentence was handed down yesterday by High Court Judge, Justice Naison Chivayo.
The court heard how Khumalo suffered and eventually succumbed to the injuries inflicted on the head, face and body following her husband’s frenzied savage attack.
Ncube, who pleaded not guilty to murder, however admitted to a lesser charge of culpable homicide. Justice Chivayo, sitting with assessors, found Ncube guilty of murder as defined in Section 47 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.
Mr Kudakwashe Jaravaza for the State, said Ncube was aged 54 at the time he committed the crime, while the deceased was aged 45.
“On the 19th day of June 2017, the deceased and her husband retired to bed in their kitchen hut. The accused started sexual advances but was turned down as the deceased cited tiredness.
“The accused then embraced the deceased, who hit him with her elbow. This infuriated the accused, who then slapped the deceased and an altercation ensued, resulting in the accused picking up a hoe and striking the deceased twice on the face,” said Mr Jaravaza.
He said Khumalo suffered serious injuries, which led to her death and Ncube then surrendered himself to the police.
Several witnesses, including the couple’s children, were summoned to the court to testify.
Mr Thabisa Nkala, the couple’s son, according to court documents, said he had noticed that there was a problem between them.
He told the court that at around 8pm, he retired to bed, leaving the couple together.
Mr Nkala went on to state that on the following day, he woke up at 5AM and proceeded to their bedroom, where he discovered his mother lying face down in a pool of blood.
He then ran to his brother Mr Nkosentsha Ncube’s homestead, to inform him of the situation.
“They proceeded to the homestead to investigate. Upon arrival, they entered the round hut, which was still under construction and noticed that the deceased’s body was partly covered by blankets.
The deceased had injuries on the head and there were blood stains on the wall as well as a pool of blood on the floor,” read the document.
The brothers then informed their neighbour of the incident, before proceeding to another neighbour’s homestead to seek help in locating their father and reporting the matter to the police.
In his defence to the crime, Ncube said they had been having serious marital problems, leading to the deceased denying him his conjugal rights.
Ncube said on the fateful day, they were in their bedroom hut at around midnight when he requested to be intimate with his wife.
He stated in court documents that his wife refused to be intimate with him because she had a new boyfriend, who was better in bed
“She was not prepared to be intimate with the accused since he was weak in bed like a ‘qhude’ (loosely translated to mean that he was like a cock) in bed.
This did not go down well with the accused , who then attacked the now deceased. Ncube submitted that as a result of the provocation he completely lost control of himself, but did not intend to kill his wife.
