Siphakeme .Mnindwa
Danisa Masuku
A MAN whose wife eloped with her secret lover on their wedding night has been convicted and sentenced together with his in-laws for beating up the bride’s secret lover.
The groom, Mbongeni Moyo, and his in-laws, Allen Munhuru (26), Prosper Ndlovu (33) and Fungai Mpofu have been making several trips for trial at Western Commonage Magistrate courts in Bulawayo facing attempted murder charges.
The quartet appeared before regional magistrate Sibongile Msipa-Marondedze. However, the magistrate resorted to a charge of assault after the State failed to prove elements of attempted murder.
After the completion of the trial early this week, they were each slapped with a US$300 fine, and failure to pay, they would be jailed for six months. In addition, six months were wholly suspended on condition that they do not commit an offence involving assault for five years.
The court considered a lesser charge because the complainant, Geshom Gwatiringa, who is a police officer, admitted that he had some quality time with Moyo’s wife, Sisasenkosi Mpofu, soon after the wedding. The court heard that Gwatiringa apologised for his actions when he was confronted by Moyo and his in-laws.
The court noted that there was provocation since Gwatiringa spent quality time with a married woman soon after the wedding. The court also noted that he failed to produce a medical report from a medical specialist to prove that indeed he was severely injured after being assaulted by the groom and his in-laws. The general medical report proved that he did not sustain serious injuries as he was beaten up using open hands.
The magistrate highlighted that mitigating factors far outweighed the aggravating factors. The court heard that the bride disappeared with her secret lover who is stationed at Hillside Police Station after tying the knot, shortly before 7pm on their wedding day. She returned home close to midnight and was allegedly drunk.
When she got home, she knocked on the window before saying to her husband, an elder at the SDA church: “Vula umnyango sikhulumisane njengabantu abadala (open the door so that we talk as adults). She reportedly told her husband that Gwatiringa allegedly gave her wine, she got drunk and “did not know what happened thereafter.”
Moyo snatched her cellphone and went through messages and was shocked to learn that his wife was allegedly in love with Gwatiringa and they had spent time together on the wedding night.
Moyo then took his wife to his in-laws and narrated the incident. He teamed up with his in-laws and went to Gwatiringa’s home at Emakhandeni, Bulawayo.
They arrived at around 1am and found him sleeping with his wife. They showed him the chats he had allegedly exchanged with the bride.
The groom and his in-laws took him to Entumbane Police Station. The group allegedly beat him up, accusing him of being in a sexual affair with the married woman. However, Gwatiringa dragged Moyo and his in-laws to court, accusing them of attempted murder charges.
