The domestic violence trial of Chitungwiza mayor Phillip Mutoti yesterday started at the Chitungwiza Magistrates’ Court with his wife Alice Kuvheya giving evidence on how she was being allegedly ill-treated by the city father.
By Sofia Mapuranga
Mutoti (44) pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared before magistrate Renika Dzikiti, accusing his wife of fabricating charges against him in a bid to tarnish his image as a politician.
Through his lawyer Fred Machokoto, Mutoti said Kuvheya wanted to be in the limelight while portraying him in bad light since she knew he was in the process of divorcing her.
“The complainant knows that my client has approached her family seeking to divorce her customarily, considering that the duo are married. This is why she is fabricating these charges to get back at him,” Machokoto said.
However, in her evidence-in-chief, Kuvheya (31) said Mutoti assaulted her at a time when she was weighing only 47kg due to ill health.
“He used vulgar language when he was insulting me outside our gate, calling my mother a prostitute. He said I was no longer satisfying him sexually because I was too thin and did not have any buttocks,” she said.
“He further told me that it was at my own peril if I was not on anti-retroviral treatment because he had already commenced taking them for the good of his health.”
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Kuvheya said she was currently housed at Musasa Project, a shelter for abused women, since she feared for her life after Mutoti allegedly continuously threatened her with death.
“He said because he is the one who held all the power, he would ensure that he made my life a misery and I would have nowhere to go,” Kuvheya said.
She also said Mutoti had threatened to hire MDC-T youths who campaigned for him to deal with her.
“He takes drugs such as bronco [Bron Cleer] and marijuana and this is why I am now living in fear. That is why I decided to report the matter to the police in July even after the assault took place in March,” Kuvheya said.
Allegations against Mutoti are that on March 14 and at house number 343, St Mary’s in Chitungwiza, he had a misunderstanding with his wife after accusing her of stealing his $50.
The State alleges Mutoti left the house in a huff and went outside the gate, but his wife followed him and in a fit of rage, Mutoti charged towards her, dragged her inside the house slapped, punched, kicked and choked her before their security guard, only identified as Mutambirwa, intervened to save her.
Ntombikayise Nleya prosecuted.
