A 56-year-old man from the Dubula area who severely assaulted his wife after she refused to be intimate with him on cultural grounds was on Thursday slapped with a 12-month jail term by a Binga magistrate.
Andrew Mpande pleaded guilty to assault charges when he appeared before Binga resident magistrate Stephen Ndlovu.
The magistrate convicted and sentenced him to 12 months in jail which was wholly suspended on condition he performs 420 hours of community service at Mabobolo Primary School in Binga.
The court heard that Mpande was married to two wives Esnath Mpande (46) and another one (not named) who is now late.
On September 18 Mpande and the surviving wife Esnath had a serious dispute after he demanded to be intimate with her before fulfilling some cultural ritual procedures concerning the late wife.
The Tonga culture demands that if a man has two wives and one of them dies, he must undergo a cultural ritual before recommencing intimacy with the surviving wife.
