Cephas Shava
25 March 2017, MWENEZI – A 26-year-old man chased and assaulted his father in-law with an axe handle for trying to solve a dispute between him and his ‘cheating’ wife, the Mwenezi Magistrates Court recently heard.
Phineas Chimbudzi of Mapuranga Village One under Chief Chitanga was convicted on his own guilty plea of guilty by Magistrate Honest Musiwa and was fined US$80 or 30 days behind bars.
Prosecutor Willard Chasi told the court that on February 10, Chimbudzi’s father in-law Solomon Kunguru of Kure village under Chief Mawarire, visited the couple’s homestead in a bid to solve a misunderstanding between his son-in-law and his wife (Chimbudzi’s daughter).
Chimbudzi, however, accused Kanguru of intruding into personal family issues before picking an axe handle which he used to assault Kunguru all over the body.
The victim sustained swollen arms and some bruises.
Chimbudzi pleaded with the court that since he is the one who wronged his father in-law, he should be given an opportunity to apologise to him.
“The misunderstanding was over a suspicious text message which I found on my wife’s cell phone which showed she was having adulterous relationships. So Kunguru, who was armed with a machete, intruded into my bedroom and stuck me on my arm.
“I chased and assaulted him with an axe handle in retaliation. I told him point blank that he was defending his daughter’s infidelity,” Chimbudzi later told TellZim News after the guilty verdict.
Chimbudzi said Kunguru later returned after the altercation, packed his daughter’s belongings and disappeared with his daughter.local
