THE trial of a Bulawayo woman who allegedly stabbed her
husband with a kitchen knife for arriving home in the wee hours, has kicked off
with her 10-year-old daughter nailing her mother by exposing her lies.
Nomzamo Luhle Dube (31) of Pumula South allegedly fatally
stabbed her husband Mr Martin Luther Jabulani Ncube (30) in March last year.
Dube appeared before Bulawayo High Court judge, Justice
Maxwell Takuva, facing a murder charge.
The accused person’s daughter, Thubelihle Shantel Dube
(10), in her testimony, gave a detailed account of how her mother incessantly
attacked her stepfather before heartlessly stabbing him with a kitchen knife as
he persistently pleaded for mercy.
“My step dad arrived home shortly after 1AM and knocked on
the door while we were watching television with my mother. My mother refused to
open the door and he persistently pleaded with her to open, but she remained
adamant,” said Thubelihle in her testimony.
She told the court that her mother later instructed her to
open the door and when the deceased walked in, an altercation ensued between
the two.
“When dad walked in, my mother immediately shouted at him
before they went to the bedroom. I followed them and witnessed my mother
indiscriminately punching dad on the face as he continuously pleaded with her
to stop. Throughout the scuffle, my dad never retaliated but only pushed my
mother resulting in her hitting against a wardrobe,” said Thubelihle.
She said her mother went to the kitchen and returned
carrying a knife hidden behind her back.
The girl narrated how she watched helplessly as her mother
brutally stabbed the deceased resulting in blood gushing out.
She said Ncube staggered and went outside before he
collapsed and died in their garden.
However, in her defence, Dube, through her lawyer Mr
Shepherd Huni of Coghlan and Welsh Legal Practitioners, said she acted in self
defence, arguing she was under attack.
“My husband arrived home in the wee hours and knocked on
the door and I instructed my daughter to open the door, but she failed to open
it. I then woke up and opened the door during which the deceased started
assaulting me, saying I delayed opening it. He kicked me all over the body
during which he tripped and fell and at that point he picked a knife which was
on the floor and tried to stab me,” she said.
Dube said she managed to wrest the knife from her husband
and accidentally stabbed him in the chest. She told the court that it was not
her intention to kill him.
“Under these circumstances, I deny the charge of murder and
plead guilty to a lesser charge of culpable homicide,” said Dube.
Prosecuting, Mr Kudakwashe Jaravaza said on March 2 last
year at around 7.30PM, Ncube left his home with five friends for a beer drink
at a shopping centre in his neighbourhood.
Dube followed her husband and caught up with the six men
along the way and they proceeded together to the shopping centre where they
drank beer.
The court heard that at around 10PM, Dube in the company of
her husband’s friends left the pub and went home leaving the deceased drinking
beer.
“The deceased arrived home at around 1AM the following
morning and knocked on the door. Dube ordered her 10-year-old daughter to open
the door for her father,” said Mr Jaravaza.
When Ncube entered the house, Dube allegedly started
shouting at him for coming home late during which an altercation ensued between
the two.
Ncube allegedly slapped his wife across the face and pushed
her against the wardrobe.
Dube became angry and she went to the kitchen and armed
herself with a knife. She retaliated by stabbing her husband once on the left
side of the chest and he collapsed.
The accused person tried to resuscitate her husband by
pouring water all over his body but he did not respond. She called for an
ambulance and on arrival the ambulance crew examined Mr Ncube and pronounced
him dead.
A report was made to the police leading to Dube’s arrest.
Chronicle
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