MWENEZI – A teacher at Tafara Secondary School, Liberty Chinhavi was left nursing severe scars all over his body after his wife poured boiling cooking oil following a domestic dispute, the Mwenezi Magistrates’ Court has heard.
Appearing before magistrate Honest Musiiwa was Mercy Zezai (20) who pleaded guilty to the charge of contravening Section 4 (1) of the Domestic Violence Act Chapter 5:16 ‘physical abuse’.
Asked why she committed the offence, Zezai said she was revenging an alleged assault by her husband earlier on.
She was then sentenced her to 12 months imprisonment of which two months were conditionally suspended for five years. The remaining 10 months were set aside on condition that she performed 350 hours of community service at Chingami Primary School.
Appearing for the State, Willard Chasi said sometime on September 12, 2016 at around 20:00hrs the couple was at Chinhavi’s workplace when they had a dispute after Zezai had slapped their child.
Chinhavi later on went to sleep only to wake up hours later to the sight of his wife holding a pot full of boiling cooking oil. Zezai immediately poured the hot cooking oil on her husband’s face, stomach and thighs.
The husband sustained severe injuries and was rushed to the hospital where he received treatment.
After committing the offence, Zezai fled to South Africa only to return home recently.
Police were then tipped-off of her return and they went and arrested her.court

MWENEZI – Two suspected daring serial robbers who robbed many households, premises and many houses at Mwenezi Police Camp were eventually arrested last week.
Moses Chakaipa (36) and Joseph Tsemwa (30), of Mhlanga complex; Lutumba business centre in Beitbridge, and the Mwenezi district administrator’s complex respectively, last Wednesday appeared in the Magistrates’ Court facing eight counts of unlawful entry.
Chakaipa pleaded guilty to all the charges while his co-accused, Tsemwa denied everything and was remanded in custody pending further trial.
For all the counts, magistrate Honest Musiiwa sentenced Chakaipa to 36 months imprisonment of which six months were conditionally suspended for five years. This left Chakaipa to serve an effective 30 months sentence.
Appearing for the State, Willard Chasi said from April 20 – July 30 this year, the duo would – in the middle of the night – go to the places of residence of various police officers who work at Mwenezi Police Station.
While other police officers were away on duty, with others asleep at their respective houses, Chakaipa and Tsemwe would break-in.
They would then steal various electrical gadgets and other valuable property including cell phones, amplifiers, televisions and clothes. The two would take the stolen property to Beitbridge where they would then sale some while keeping other items for themselves.
The suspects were arrested after detectives received a tip off.
The total value of property that was stolen from all the eight complainants amounted to US$2 813 while recovered goods were valued at US$1 176.court

MWENEZI – A 56-year-old Mwenezi man recently went berserk, bashing his wife’s boyfriend after finding out that he allegedly had been receiving goodies from his wife, including money and grain from the family’s reserves.
Aleck Maphosa of Elijah village under Chief Mazetese appeared before magistrate Honest Musiiwa charged with assault, and pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting his wife’s alleged boyfriend, Morrison Machuve.
Maphosa was sentenced to six months behind bars which were wholly set aside on condition that he performed 210 hours of community service at Firidzi Primary School.
Asked by the magistrate why he committed the offence, Maphosa said he was angered that Machuve was not only taking his wife but the material products of his hard work too.
“Machuve is my wife’s boyfriend and I once dragged him to the village court over the offence. What angered me on the day in question is that I realised that besides being given some money by my wife, I also learnt that Machuve was given a sizeable quantity of sorghum for free,” said Maphosa.
Representing the State, prosecutor Angelinah Makonya, however, told the court that on July 19 at Firidzi business centre, Maphosa approached the complainant, asking him why he bought some sorghum from his wife without his approval.
Machuve told Maphosa that it was rather his wife who approached him, selling the sorghum. This did not go down well with Maphosa who began to assault the complainant with open hands and fists.
The complainant sustained some body injuries and was referred to the hospital.
A police report was later made leading to Maphosa’s arrest.court

MWENEZI – A well-known self-styled prophet of the Jowani Masowe eChishanu, Benjamin Matiza (38), popularly known as Madzibaba Bhenji, is in trouble with the law after he allegedly followed a 14-year-old girl to the bush and raped her.
Matiza, of no fixed residential address, appeared before magistrate Honest Musiiwa and was remanded in custody before being formally charged.
The prophet had of late become a crowd puller, attracting many people desperate for spiritual help to his camp at Mariot Ranch under Chief Chitanga.
In July this year, Matiza visited Village 3, Mariot Ranch where a close relative stays and set up camp there to do his prophesy work.
On August 14, he saw a girl, who is doing form two at a local school and who he had earlier on visited his place in the company of her parents for spiritual help.
The minor was going to fetch some firewood in the bush.
Matiza then followed the girl into the bush, told her he wanted to cast some remaining demons from her stomach but the girl refused.
The self-styled prophet, however, persisted and allegedly began to fondle the girl all over her body, undressed and then raped her.
He allegedly ordered her not to tell anybody about what had happened but the girl revealed everything to her mother when she returned home.
A police report was then made, leading to the suspect’s arrest.court

MPANDAWANA – Charles Mutema (20) of Dzingai village under Chief Chiwara this week appeared in the Gutu Magistrates’ Court facing charges of attempting to rape a four-year-old girl who is said to be his niece.
He was charged for contravening with Section 189 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 09:23, ‘attempted Rape’.
Mutema was remanded in custody to September 04 and was advised to apply for bail at the High Court.
State facts as presented by Millicent Azangwe are that on July 28 this year around 10:00hrs, the child was at home when Mutema called her into his room promising to give her bread.
When the child got into the room, Mutema lifted her, laid her on the bed facing upwards, lifted her skirt, removed her pant completely and caressed her intending to have sexual intercourse with her.
Mutema then suddenly ordered the child to dress up and get out of the room after hearing some footsteps outside.
The matter came to light when the child reported what had happened to her mother when she came back home. A report was then made to the police leading to Mutema’s arrest.court

Cephas Shava

MPANDAWANA – A 46-year-old man from Shadhaya village under Chief Gutu dug up his father’s grave and took away the dead man’s skeleton, the Gutu Magistrates’ Court heard last week.
Moses Zuva appeared in court accused of violating graves as defined in Section 110 of The Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23.
The section reads, “Any person who violates a grave in which human remains are situated, knowing that he or she is doing so or realising that there is a real risk or possibility that he or she may be doing so, shall be guilty of violating a grave and liable to a fine not exceeding level seven or imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year or both.”

Zuva was remanded in custody to October 02 and ordered to be mentally examined by two doctors.
State facts are that on September 13, at around 10:00 hrs, Zuva went and desecrated the grave of his father who died sometime in 1990, took the skeleton and placed it in his bedroom.
He was seen by Paul Zuva Shadhaya who then alerted the police. The police went to his place and discovered the skeleton in his bedroom hut but the suspect resisted arrest.
When asked by magistrate Victor Mahamadi why he committed the offence, Zuva said he was only fulfilling what he had agreed with his late father before he died.
“I was just fulfilling our agreement. He asked me to take his skeleton and stay with it in my bedroom when he died,” said Zuva
Samuel Magobeya prosecuted.court