Beauty Mutondoro (22) of Village 3, Nelvin Farm in Gutu
used such ferocious force against Chenjerai Mutondoro that the log broke into
two pieces after she hit him on the left side of the head. Mutondoro died three
days later at Masvingo Provincial Hospital.
Giving sentence last week, Justice Mawadze felt so sorry
for Beauty whose small stature made her look like a Form 2 girl.
He also noted that Beauty will have the sole responsibility
of looking after the couple’s two children aged four and one and half. For
those reasons, Justice Mawadze suspended the whole four year-sentence he had
placed on Beauty who faced culpable homicide charges.
Beauty showed remorse throughout the hearing although the
husband provoked her on the fateful day. Justice Mawadze also said that the
fact that Beauty will live with the stigma of killing her husband was
punishment in itself.
He also noted that she will live with the stigma of being a murderer despite being convicted for a lesser charge. The incident happened on June 22, 2022 around 10 pm.
The State case was that Mutondoro returned home drunk and
told his wife that he wanted to buy an axe in exchange for maize. Beauty did
not agree with the idea since their maize stock was not enough to last them
until the next harvest.
Mutondoro slapped his wife twice in the face twice and hit
her twice with a log. The log was produced in court as an exhibit. The State
said that Mutondoro then snatched the log and hit her husband once with it.
He was taken to Gutu Mission Hospital and transferred to
Masvingo General Hospital where he died six days later on June 28, 2022.
“The accused is of a very small stature; one would think she
is a secondary school pupil. She is now the sole parent. The duty to look after
their young children aged four and one-and-half-years falls squarely on her
shoulders. It would be very difficult for her to outsource this responsibility.
The children would be adversely affected.
“The accused exhibited contrition. She pleaded guilty to
the charge she stands convicted of. It should weigh heavily on the accused that
she took away the life of her husband and the father of her children. She will
now live with the stigma that she is a murderer despite having been convicted
of a lesser crime,” said Justice Mawadze.
Prosecutor Edwin Mbavarira conceded that Mutondoro should
be charged with culpable homicide and did not ask for a custodial sentence
during mitigation.
The postmortem report showed that Chenjerai had a fracture
on the skull.
Mutondoro was represented by Tatenda Nyoka of Muzenda and
Chitsama Attorneys on a pro deo basis.Masvingo Mirror
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