The ManicaPost
Weekender Correspondent
AN ODZI man was last Friday slapped with an eight-month jail term after he was convicted of choking his 13-year-old son and assaulting him with an iron rod thereafter. Notice Njanike (30) was convicted on his own guilty plea of contravening the Domestic Violence Act when he appeared before Mutare magistrate Ms Perseverance Makala.
In mitigation, Njanike told the court that by choking and assaulting the child, he wanted to exorcise evil spirits from the teenager who was in dire need of spiritual help.
“Your Worship, my intention was not to cause harm to the child, but to exorcise evil spirits that were troubling him. I, however, beg for the court’s forgiveness if by so doing I broke the law,” he said.
Ms Makala sentenced Njanike to eight months imprisonment, but suspended three months for five years on condition of good behaviour. Njanike will serve an effective five months in prison. Mr Fletcher Karombe prosecuted. Njanike of Alma Farm in Odzi asked his 13-year-old son to escort him to a nearby bush claiming that he wanted to get some herbs.
While in the bush, Njanike tied the boy with a cloth around his neck and started to choke him. He went on to assault the boy with an iron rod on his head. Neighbours came to the boy’s rescue and restrained Njanike from causing further harm to his son.
A police report was made leading to his arrest. The juvenile sustained a head injury and was medically examined. Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident, a Sakubva man was arraigned before the courts for assaulting his teenage son with electric cables.
John Simbi (44) denied the charges when he appeared before Ms Makala and was remanded in custody to October 19. Allegations were that besides assaulting the teenager with electric cables, Simbi would leave him alone at home while he went to Mozambique for several days.
