Online Reporter
Sharon Jiyamwa-Herald Reporter
A HARARE woman has obtained a five-year protection order against her husband, who recently returned from South Africa after 17 years, following a dispute over alleged sexual harassment, insults and interference in her household.
Ms Ruth Zvauya yesterday appeared before the Harare Civil Court seeking protection from her husband, Obert Musayi, whom she accused of making her life difficult since his return.
Ms Zvauya told the court that Musayi had been pressuring her to be intimate with him before they underwent sexually transmitted infection (STI) tests and allegedly threatened to chase her from their home whenever she refused.
She said she feared contracting sexually transmitted diseases following his long stay in South Africa and wanted them both to undergo STI tests first.
“I have not known peace since he returned,” Ms Zvauya told the court.
She also accused Musayi of throwing her belongings outside the house during disagreements and interfering with the household arrangements she had established while he was away.
Ms Zvauya further alleged that Musayi had taken some of her food supplies, sold some of her chickens without her consent and damaged her wheelbarrow.
Musayi denied the allegations, insisting that he had never forced his wife to be intimate with him.
He said the couple had experienced disagreements over intimacy even before he left for South Africa and claimed Ms Zvauya had often told him she was tired whenever he sought intimacy.
Musayi said the couple had previously appeared before the family court over the same issue.
On STI and HIV testing, Musayi told the court that Ms Zvauya had known about his HIV status since 2007, when they were tested together.
He said he tested HIV-positive while Ms Zvauya tested negative.
Musayi also denied deliberately damaging his wife’s wheelbarrow, saying he had used it to carry stones and bricks while constructing a toilet at their home.
He said the bricks she accused him of taking were used to construct the toilet, which was now being used by both of them.
According to Musayi, there was no toilet at the homestead when he returned from South Africa, prompting him to undertake the construction to improve their living conditions.
Magistrate Johanna Mukwesha granted Ms Zvauya a protection order against Musayi.
The order, which will remain in force for five years, bars Musayi from sexually harassing or insulting his wife and from chasing her from their home.
