adminSukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
A MAN suffered severe burns after his sister scalded her with boiling water – for eating too much! Yesterday, Miss Nhlanhla Ncube (26) of Bulilima District in Matabeleland South was beginning a 12-month jail stretch after admitting the 29 October attack on his brother, Mr Kwanele Ncube (28).
Plumtree magistrate Mr Gideon Ruvetsa heard how Nhlanhla, of Dombodema Resettlement, flew into a rage after returning home to find her brother and his two children had gobbled up food she had just bought.
Kwanele, the court heard, in turn confronted her sister for “always chasing away his children whenever they visited the homestead from their grandmother’s home.”
He accused her of depriving his children of their right to see him.
“The accused told her brother that his children were putting her off budget as they consumed most of the food she was buying,” said Mr Medica Tshuma, for the State.
Mr Tshuma told the court that a furious row ensued and Nhlanhla lost it as she picked up a pot full of boiling water from the fireplace and poured it on Kwanele.
The victim suffered severe burns on his chest, back and right arm. He was treated at Plumtree District Hospital.
In her defence, Nhlanhla claimed she poured the water on her brother in a bid to protect herself. She told the court that her brother was drunk and had beaten her, accusing her of chasing his children away whenever they came to visit.
She begged the magistrate to spare her a custodial sentence, telling the court she was a widow taking care of two children.
But Mr Ruvetsa ignored her pleas, telling her she deserved a jail sentence as she had committed a “serious crime” considering the severe harm she brought on her brother.
She was convicted on her own plea of guilty and was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, with six months suspended conditionally.
Online Reporter