HIGH Court judge Justice Charles Hungwe on Wednesday slapped a 30-year-old Zimunya man with a 22-year prison term for killing his wife whom he accused of letting a stray dog eat his beef.
BY OBEY MANAYITI
Misheck Manyengavana, who is a father of two minor children, launched a savage attack on his wife Rhoda Bonyongwe on November 10 2013 as he was coming from a beer-drinking binge in in Zimunya.
Justice Hungwe said the accused deserved no mercy and the law had to “descend on him like a ton of bricks” so as to send a clear message to other perpetrators of gender-based violence.
It was the State’s case that on the day in question at around 2pm, the accused came from a beer-drinking binge where he had been imbibing the illicit Zed spirit and picked an argument with his wife.
The court heard that Manyengavana accused his wife of failing to prepare and guard the meat which she was supposed to serve him after a dog had helped itself to the meat.
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The accused started to assault his wife with clenched fists prompting her to seek refuge at a neighbour’s homestead.
The angry Manyengavana pursued her and further assaulted her with a stick before taking her back home.
Some villagers tried to intervene, but later stopped because of the violent nature of the accused.
The accused failed to take his wife to hospital besides inflicting many injuries on her and as a result, Bonyongwe succumbed to injuries in the early hours of November 11.
From the various testimonies in court, some witnesses said Manyengavana was in the habit of assaulting his wife.
According to a post-mortem report submitted in court, Bonyongwe died of serious head injuries due to the assault.
Justice Hungwe said the courts should be seen to be dealing harshly with perpetrators of domestic violence and sentenced Manyengavana to 22 years behind bars.
Jane-Rose Matsikidze prosecuted.