Wife’s secret child lands couple at loggerheads

Ashley Mujoma
A CITY woman claims she has been subjected to gender-based violence for concealing a child from a previous marriage.

The matter came to light at the Harare Civil Court where Netsai Rodzi applied for a protection order against Mark Hunyani.

Rodzi claimed she was being physically abused by Hunyani for keeping her child, a secret, for seven years.

She said she had the child sometime in 2016, after divorcing her former husband, and did not reveal that to her current husband.

“I never told him about my child because I wanted us to start our new life without any problems.

“I don’t know what to do, he has been insulting me, harassing me and if he can’t forgive me, it’s better we part ways.

“I made a mistake but l can’t continue suffering from what he is doing to me,” she said.

In response, Hunyani denied the allegations, arguing that what his wife did was unacceptable.

“If she claims she was not a prostitute, why did she hide the child away from me and keep the secret for seven good years?” he said.

Presiding magistrate, Sharon Mashavire, granted the protection order in Rodzi’s favour.