Cephas Shava
MWENEZI – A woman who was stung by the prospect of getting divorced burnt down her husband’s bedroom hut, the Mwenezi Magistrate Court recently heard.
Caroline Jimu (20) of Mahondo village under Chief Negari was convicted of malicious damage to property by Magistrate Honest Musiiwa on her own guilty plea and was sentenced to eight months behind bars or alternatively to serve 280 hours of community service.
Asked by the magistrate what made her to act in the manner which she did, Jimu who was holding a toddler, said cited the pressure of divorce.
“I burnt the hut because he had divorced me—kundiramba hanzi ndiende kumba kwavabereki vako pakati pousiku, apa ndakanga ndakatakura mimba yake futi,” Jimu told the court.
The State’s case, as presented by prosecutor Willard Chasi, was that on September 16, 2016 at around 1900 hrs, Jimu and her husband had a misunderstanding resulting in the husband packing his wife’s belonging and escorting her to her parents’ homestead.
Jimu was left a few metres away from her parents’ homestead while her husband retreated and went to sleep at his grandmother’s homestead.
Jimu reportedly came back that same night and set her husband’s bedroom hut on fire resulting in the destruction of property worth US$245 and nothing was recovered. A police report was made leading to Jimu’s arrest.local
