SEVEN family members from Matipedza village under Chief Marange were on Friday hauled before a Mutare magistrate facing assault charges after they beat up their relative whom they accused of practising witchcraft that they alleged brought untold suffering upon them.
REPORT BY OWN CORRESPONDENT
The seven are Silas, Fungai, Misheck, Lovemore, David, Reginald and Morgan Mungai.
They were convicted on their own plea when they appeared before Mutare magistrate Noah Gwatidzo for attacking Lazarus Mungai.
They were, however, lucky to escape a custodial sentence after magistrate Gwatidzo ordered them to pay $100 each or spend three months in prison.
Charges against the seven are that on December 26 at Mungai homestead at Matipedza village in Chief Marange, the accused invited the complainant, Mungai, to a nearby garden where they assaulted him several times on his back and buttocks using wooden sticks.
They claimed the witchcraft was causing untold suffering to the whole family.
The court heard that the accused continued assaulting him all over forcing him to confess. They only stopped after the complainant admitted to the allegation raised against him.
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However, after the assault, the complainant made a police report leading to the arrest of the seven.
In passing sentence, magistrate Gwatidzo said the seven had no right to act in the manner they did.
